Save Me
by ChandraLee13
Summary: "If the car could smirk, it would have. She ordered him away. He was a free mech now, able to do as he pleased without the worry of a charge. And what he wanted was to protect her." Rated T for now. May go up. Barricade x O.C.
1. Crash and Find

Alright, so I admit, I should be working on my first Transformers story. But I couldn't help myself! D: This one was just begging to be written, and I couldn't stop thinking about it while working on the second chapter. Well, here you go!

I own nothing, kids. Except my O.C. I own her. Oh, and my story idea. I own that too.

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><p><strong>9 years ago...<strong>

_A small little girl stood outside under the stars, sobbing quietly and pacing back and forth. She clutched a pillow tightly to her chest, hanging on to it for dear life. As if it could protect her, as if it would save her. There was the sound of glass shattering inside the house she was pacing in front of, and it caused her to flinch and sob a little harder. More muffled shouts filled the quiet night around her. Her little heart hammered madly in her chest. She wished her mother would hurry up! A loud thud from inside caught her attention, and before she could think she was running back into the house, abandoning her pillow on the dewy grass. _

_Her mother lay on the floor, feet raised into the air, as if she had just fallen over or was trying to get up. Her father stood over her, almost towering over the defenseless woman, his hand balled into a fist and raised as if he was ready to hit her. He looked up at the sound of a small gasp, locking eyes with his small daughter. She hiccuped and clasped both hands over her mouth, eyes going wide. She had been seen. She was a witness to her mother being struck by her father. She didn't know why she thought this of her father, but she had a feeling he was going to do anything in his power to silence her. Just like he had done before. _

_She shivered at the cruel words. _

_"You're a damn liar. That never happened." He had ground out icily, turning to leave the room. She remembered being confused, afraid, and angry. Oh how she had been angry. She hadn't made it up; he had tried to touch her in places she shouldn't be touched. Especially by her own father. _

_Her mother was back on her feet now as she snapped back into reality. She was trying to prevent her father from going after her. But his bleary, drunk eyes were locked on the little girl, and he looked angry. She knew that look before. She could and never would get that image out of her mind. _

_Natural fight or flight instincts kicked in when her father struck her mother down again with surprising ease, and the little girl took off running in the other direction, leaving the house. Forgetting the over night bag cast carelessly on the ground, she ran for her life, heading right past the house, past the neighbors' house, past the barn next door, and went straight into the woods that she had never once ventured into before. _

_Lightning began to flash around her, temporarily letting her see where she was going. Her little lean legs pumped furiously beneath her feet, jumping over tree branches she didn't even know were laying on the ground. The wind whipped around her for a moment, before ceasing. Thunder rumbled loudly, signalling the start of a thunderstorm. She didn't care. She knew she had to get as far away from that house as she could. A simple storm wasn't going to stop her. _

_After what seemed like forever, she came into a small clearing of the woods, one that had been visible from her home. She wanted to stop. She wanted to keep going. But she knew standing in a clearing like she wanted to do during a thunderstorm wasn't the wisest of decisions, so she kept running as if her father was right on her trail. She knew he hadn't followed. He could barely walk right, much less run. She continued to run for her young life when she entered the second set of woods, oblivious to the rain falling around her now. _

_She came to a sudden, abrupt stop when she fell into a large crater in the ground, which was shaped like a bowl in the side of the steadily climbing mountain-like hill. The mud was still warm from whatever had impacted the ground, but was slightly wet from the light rain falling from the sky. She whimpered helplessly, trying her hardest to stand. The ground rumbled, but there was no thunder. She stood up on shakey legs and gasped when she caught sight of a pair of glowing red lights that looked suspiciously like a pair of eyes. Lightning flashed brightly around her, and she caught sight of a huge humanoid being that looked mechanical. Gasping again, she fell back onto the wet ground. _

_"W-who are you?" She called out, hoping it could hear her over the loud thunder rumbling around her. She heard a mechanical whirring and the red lights got closer to her. _

_"Ugh. A human fleshling..."A metal object that felt like a claw poked her small form and she squeaked in surprise. "A human...sparkling." It almost spat. "My designation is Barricade. I am a Decepticon seeker, sent to uncover the hidden location of the All Spark." It said, it's voice sounding mechanical._

_"W-what...? I..don't understand..." She mumbled the last part, standing up and looking at the ground sadly. She wasn't used to talking to people, aside from her mother and occasionally her father. Other kids weren't exactly nice to her, and teachers didn't like her because of her ADHD; because of it, she had a tendency to move around the room without permission, to talk when she was not supposed to, and had a hard time paying attention. She took medicine for it...but it wasn't good enough to them. _

_"I did not expect you to. I do not know much about you fleshlings, but I know that no sparkling should be unattended in a storm." Thunder grumbled loudly, almost shaking the ground. The girl covered her ears and whimpered. The storm was getting closer, the rain was starting to pelt the ground like a thousand fists. The girl looked up at the red glowing lights timidly._

_"I...ran away. Daddy...daddy hit mommy...I seen it...he..." She stumbled over the rest of her words, fear clenching in her stomach. "He wanted to...hit me...I seen it in his eyes..." The ground quaked slightly as the mechanical being shifted its weight uncomfortably. Barricade hadn't come to earth to communicate with fleshlings, to babysit sparklings, but something in her voice had his attention. He researched the terms she had used in her explanation for being outside in a storm and he let out the Cybertronian version of a sigh; this just wasn't his night. According to their internet, her mech creator had hit her femme creator, his spark mate. Even on Cybertron that was highly frowned upon. Decepticon or not...he felt a little sorry for the sparkling. He leaned down again, his face not too far from the small femme. _

_"What is your designation? Your..." He looked up the human term. "Name." He finished uncertainly. The girl perked up instantly, all traces of fear seemingly gone. _

_"Oh! I'm sorry for being rude. My name is Jessica!" She smiled. "Your...your name is..." She thought hard, Barricade watching her eyebrows knit together in furious concentration. "I can't remember..." She mumbled pathetically. He sighed again. He was doing a lot of that tonight. _

_"Barricade." He said. She lit up again. _

_"Yeah, that's it! Barricade!" She giggled. "That's a funny name." He snorted._

_"And your designation is not odd?" He shook his head. Humans. "I must return you to your home. This storm will be getting stronger soon, and you are not strong enough to be without shelter in the middle of it. Sensors indicate this storm will harm you if unprotected." As if to confirm his theory, she sneezed and coughed all in one movement. Gingerly wrapping his claws around her small body, Barricade lifted the human sparkling off the wet ground and held her securely in his claw. As he took a couple of steps, the girl cried out suddenly. _

_"W-wait...where are you taking me?" She cried. "Please, don't take me there! Don't! I don't wanna go back!" She whined, pummeling his palm with small, angry fists. He didn't listen, and tried to ignore the fit she was having. It wasn't like she was hurting him anyway; her fists felt like gentle pokes on his Cybertronian metal. He almost laughed at her futile attempts, but kept silent. She stopped after a moment, but replaced her screaming at him with quiet sniffles. _

_"Why are you leaking fluids?" Barricade asked, feeling weary of the sparkling in his hand. She curled up against one of his claws and shivered, and he subconciously closed his fingers/claws around her to protect her from the cold rain falling around them. _

_"I'm not crying!" She said determinately, wiping her eyes with her muddy fists. "And you talk funny." He chuckled at that, an odd sound for a Decepitcon. He shook his head; if Starscream or Megatron ever caught wind that he was helping out a fleshing and seemingly enjoying himself...he'd never hear the end of it. _

_"I am not used to speaking with your human terminology. I am not from your planet." _

_"I figured." She mumbled, curling up into a tighter ball and shivering again. "I...I don't wanna go home. Daddy...he might hit me..." Barricade growled lowly in his throat. _

_"Your mech creator will do no such thing, sparkling." He said defiantly. His next words nearly had him falling over from shock. "I will...er...protect you." Oh how Starscream would pitch a fit. The small sparkling shifted in his hand and nuzzled her face into his palm. _

_"Okay..." She yawned. It was late, and the gentle sound of the rain falling around them, clinking against Barricade's metal form, wasn't helping. Before she could drift off to sleep, Barricade was gently sitting her down in the backyard, the dark sky preventing him from being seen. Blue and red lights flashed in the driveway of her home, and this did not get past either of the two. "Why are there cops here?" She asked no one in particular, yawning. Barricade raised his version of an eyebrow. That was the most reasonable question the sparkling had spouted since he met her. _

_"I am unsure. Jessica." She turned to him when he said her name, and she stared curiously up at his red eyes. Wow, he was tall. "I will be leaving you, but I will never be too far away. If you ever should need me...er...just...shout." She smiled and gave him a thumbs up before taking off and leaving the Decepticon to look up the gesture. _

_When she got to the front of the house, she was instantly swept up in her mother's loving, protective arms. Everything after that was a blur; the police officers looking her mother over, the paramedics looking Jessica over for injuries and checking her for any illnesses she may have gotten in the rain. She thought she caught sight of a pair of glowing red eyes watching from a distance as her mother picked her up and held her again, hugging her young daughter tightly against her chest. When she went back inside as small balls of ice, "hail" her mom called it, she caught sight of someone sitting in the back of a police car. _

_Her dad glared daggers at the two women, seething in drunken rage. Jessica shivered; she knew her dad wasn't going to be gone long. He would be back. And he would want revenge. _

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><p><em><em>Alright, so this wasn't the BEST that I could manage. I tried, though! Anyway, I'm going to go work on the second chapter. I really wanna work on this story while I got the inspiration...-pauses- OOh! THUNDER! :D Ahem. Anyway, read and review! Tell me if you liked it or not!


	2. He's Back

Alright, so here's the long awaited chapter 2! I'm really sorry it took so long. I've just had a bit of a case of writer's block with this one. I'm not too sure on how I feel about it...but, here ya go.

Also, I want to also point out that Barricade _is _going to be out of character. I mean, come on. It's a Barricade O.C. romance that involves a human. If that's not out of character for a Decepticon I don't know what is. Anyway, on with the chapter! :D

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><p>Jessica sighed and finished scribbling the memory down in her untidy hand writing and closed the small journal, a small smile flitting across her small lips. Three months had passed since that fateful night, but she hadn't recorded the memory. She stretched and held the journal high in the air, wriggling her small bare feet in circles. There was a mechanical whir and she jumped slightly, startled at the warm, hard surface that touched her foot.<p>

"You seem comfortable, femme." A deep mechanical voice echoed through the still night air. She looked up and was met with the bright red optics she was already comfortable with seeing, a small smile on her face.

"It was a long day, 'Cade." Barricade let out a tiny growl at the nickname. He wasn't too fond of being called anything other than his true designation, but he gave the girl a little leeway. It seemed easier for her to remember his name if she shortened it, so he allowed it. Even if it grated against his nerves. "I'm kind of tired." He lowered his hands lightly, adjusting his seated position on the ground.

"Then you should return home." He replied lowly. She shook her head, the smile still on her face.

"I'll be fine. It's nice to just stretch out and feel...safe." She said, voice low and eyes on the ground. Barricade started at that. She didn't feel safe? For what reason? He flexed his clawed fingers and brought the small girl close to his face to look her over. He found she would more than likely tell the truth if he held her in this fashion. Intimidation worked wonders at times.

"You do not feel safe?" She jumped at his question and looked at the ground, tracing an unknown pattern on the dark grey metal beneath her.

"I didn't say that..." She mumbled. Crap. She'd been caught. Barricade growled dangerously and jerked his hand, then drew her closer to his face. She winced when she felt warm bursts of air burst over her body in waves. It may have been 85 degrees outside, but it still gave her a chill. Something about it was just...off. That didn't make her trust him less, however.

"Tell me what is wrong, femme." He demanded, his voice coming out louder than he had intended. "You can not hide the truth from me." She looked up at him from under her thin lashes, knowing full well she was caught. She knew he was right; she'd eventually cave in and tell him. She just...wasn't sure if she should.

"...Well...I heard mommy on the phone yesterday...she sounded scared.." She started, hoping he would back off. He did pull her away from his face, but he was still close enough for that warm but bone-chilling air to hit her.

"Continue."

"She.." She swallowed, recalling the memory. "I heard her...say something about my dad." Barricade whipped his head back as if she had struck him. Her father? Hadn't he been carted off to the human detention facility for striking his mate? He kept his thoughts to himself as she continued, fear tinging her voice. "He's...he's getting out early. For..good behavior." She swallowed again, and when she spoke the fear was no longer hidden behind her childish innocence. "He's...coming home. Tonight." Barricade's eyes brightened and he glared, something that honestly scared the living daylights out of Jessica. She brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them tightly to her body, shivering. She only uncurled herself from her position when Barricade lowered his hand to the ground, and turned to look up at him. "What...what's gonna happen, 'Cade?" He got down on one of his knee plates and looked right into those bright blue eyes of hers.

"I will remain close tonight. Closer than normal. I promised you one earth week ago that I would protect you, and I am a mech of my word." He gave her the closest thing to a smile he had to offer, a slight tugging of the corner of his lip plates, and nudged her forward with one of his fingers/claws.

"Go now. You are tired and are in need of recharge." She looked up at him in concern, her brow furrowing slightly. Barricade didn't like to admit it, but within the week he had grown accustomed to that wide smile she always had on her face when she seen him, even if she had fluids running down her face. Tears, he reminded himself.

"But what about you? Didn't you say you were going to be close by in case something happened?" He gave her a slight nod.

"I did. I...have business to take care of before hand. I will be close to your home within the relatively small time frame of two hours." She blinked up at him and giggled, worry suddenly gone.

"You still talk funny." She giggled, covering her mouth with her hands to mask the noise. Barricade gave her a tiny trace of a smile before nudging her toward her home again.

"As do you. Go now, femme." Giving him one last smile, she turned and began running through the woods, wanting to hurry home in case her mom wanted her to help with the dinner again. She liked helping her mom with dinner; it made her feel special and important.

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><p>Three hours had passed and the sun was beginning to set in the sky. Jessica had long forgotten about Barricade, and was currently in the bathroom washing her hands off in the sink. She'd been helping her mom make the Swedish meatballs they both loved, mushing the raw meat with their bare hands and mixing it with bread crumbs and special spices that were her mother's secret recipe. She'd even gotten to roll them into small balls and put them on the oven tray, but her mom got to put them in the oven. She smiled and took in the sweet, barbeque smell that was lingering in the air all over the house. Just then the sound of the front door slamming shut broke the relative calm amongst the house, and Jessica froze. He...was home already?<p>

"BITCH!" There was no second guessing who that was. "Where the fuck are you?" Her father shouted, stomping through the house. The sound of glass breaking reached her ears and she instantly covered them with her wet, sudsy hands. This was not good. She didn't know if her mother answered or not, but there was the tell tale sign of a loud thud followed by a scream of pain that was undoubtedly her mother.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Her mom shouted, glass clinking as she tried to stand up. Apparently she had fallen on whatever her dad had knocked over on the way into the kitchen.

"What should have been done a long time ago! Only this is not going to be fun. For you, that is." She could hear the sadistic grin in his voice; she had to do something. And she had to do it now. Without thinking, she turned off the bathroom sink and took off for the kitchen. Without giving the action a second thought, she hurtled herself through the air and latched herself around his neck, thankful that his back had been turned to her when she entered the room. "Get your filthy hands off of me you filthy child!" He screamed, turning this way and that so he could get a grip on her. He managed to grab her thin leg and flung her against the wall with ease. Glass shattered around her as she ironically hit the family picture that had been taken by a professional photographer two years back.

"Daddy!" Jessica screamed, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. She tried not to let them fall, she just couldn't. She knew that if her mom had cried when her dad was angry, it just made him hit her harder. She didn't want that, she just wanted to distract him. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up!" He back handed her across the face, the force of the blow flipping her onto her back. Without missing a beat, he reached down and picked her up by her long brown hair, holding her a good few feet off the ground. "Don't you dare talk to me you filthy little bitch. You're not even my child." He turned to his "wife" and gave her a kick as she tried to get up. "Good for nothing whore! I didn't say you could move!" While his attention was diverted, Jessica reached her leg out and gave him a sharp kick in the stomach. He let go of her instantly and she fell to the ground. Her mother grabbed her hand before she could do much else, catching her attention.

"Jessica...run. Don't..don't worry about me." Jessica shook her head, tears in her eyes.

"No..I won't..."

"Jessica you will listen to your mother!" She whisper shouted to her daughter. "Just go. Get help. Go to the neighbors. Do what you can." She didn't have time to react, her dad knocked her out of the way, sending her sprawling into the living room. He'd gotten strong while in prison...Jessica didn't move for a few moments. She just sat there on the hard wood floor, watching in horror as her dad picked her mother off the ground and gave her a punch in the face, blood gushing from her nose as she sank to the floor in agony. The small girl let out a startled squeak when her dad grabbed the knife her mother had used just an hour before to chop up small onions to go in the meatballs, a twisted grin on his face.

"S...Stop.." she whispered, as if he could hear her. If he did, he ignored her, eyes locked on his victim. He took a step forward, but to Jessica's horror her mother didn't move. She just sat on the ground, holding her nose and sobbing in pain. "Stop.." She whispered again, hands reaching up to cup her ears to block out the sounds. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the images out of her mind, but she knew it was too late. She may have been small, but she knew those images would be forever scarred into her memory. "STOP!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, and all the world seemed to pause. Her mother froze mid sob. Her father looked up at his daughter, surprised. But the surprise didn't remain for long, he suddenly got a look on his face..one more terrifying than Barricade could ever muster up. Barricade...that's it!

"You.." Her father grumbled lowly, dangerously. He took a step towards her, brandishing the knife in his hands in a warning. "You're the reason I was locked away." He gave a demented chuckle. If he wasn't beyond enraged, he would have sounded happy. "You...if you hadn't of run away, the cops would have never came. They would have never seen those beautiful bruises I left on your mother's pale flesh, the delicious way the blood ran from that cut above her eye..." He licked his lips murderously, his steps becoming swifter as he spoke. Jessica began to back up against the wall, every limb and muscle in her body tremorring in fear.

"B-B-Bare..." She mumbled out, trying to find her voice again. She was going to die! She was going to die! Why didn't she do something? "Barri..."

"But now...heh...I was going to eliminate your mother first, save you for later..." His eyes roamed her body hungrily, and she shivered. No...not again...he...he wouldn't do that again...would he? "But I've changed my mind...Now...I will get my revenge..." He raised the knife as if it were a heavy object, his shadow slowly creeping across the carpet to engulf the brown haired, blue eyed girl in darkness. When the edge of his shadow touched her bare feet, began to creep up her thin flannel pink pajama pants, she shivered. It was as if she was slowly stepping into bathwater that had sit for too long and had once held several ice cubes, as if she was stepping naked into a huge mound of snow.

"Barricade..." She whispered. There, there was the name! Now if only she could shout it...just loud enough for him to hear it...he did have good..what where they called...? Audio something...reception?

"Barricade?" Her dad paused, looking bewildered for a moment. "Who the hell-? Never mind." He shook his head, the sick smile returning. "Don't worry...this won't hurt a bit...for me anyway!" He cackled madly at the end and she was instantly reminded of an old horror movie her and her mom had sat up all night watching.

"BARRICADE!" She screamed, voice crackling as her vocal chords were pushed to their limit. She was surprised they didn't break as she shouted again. "BARRICADE!"

"I don't know who this Barricade is..." Her father trailed, only a slight edge of confusion in his voice this time as his daughter started screaming the name. "But no one is going to save you...not your pathetic excuse for a mother...not me..." he chuckled lowly at that, as if it were a corny joke someone had told him at work that day. "And certainly not this...Barricade." He spat the name out, and Jessica gave another shout.

"BARRICADE!" Where was he? He said he would be close if she needed him! Did he abandon her?

Her mental questioning was interrupted suddenly when the roof of the living room was suddenly blasted clean off, wood and insulation raining down on them like snow.

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><p>Hee hee hee...Cliffy. :3 What did you guys think? I wasn't too proud of it but...meh. I think it'll do for now. ^.^ Anyway, review!<p> 


	3. Leave, now

**Wow! I'm up to 17 reviews already! 8D Thanks guys! I'm really glad you all are enjoying this story. So, to sort of celebrate the fact that I've gotten so many reviews, here's Chapter 3 earlier than I expected to kick it out! **

**I don't own Transformers. Period. **

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><p>Wood and insulation was falling all around them, the cheap chandelier falling with a crash on top of the couch, but the sound was lost amongst the rest. Jessica was quick to cover her face with her arms, her father ducking down. When the wood became small splinters of shrapnel<strong>, <strong>she decided to dare a peek at the night sky above her. The fear in her body instantly evaporated into thin air; it didn't take her eyes to find a pair of glowing red optics high in the sky above. She almost felt sorry for the man that was beginning to unfurl from his protective ball on the floor. Those optics, though familiar, were almost literally dripping with anger. And they were trained right on the man she had once called father.

"Wha...what the hell...?" He rasped, standing to his full height and looking around. The living room was in shambles; wood and insulation coated everything within sight, glass shards were glittering in the reflection of the flickering kitchen lights. When he was finished taking a survey of the demolished room, he turned his gaze towards the sky. And froze. For a moment, he just stood there, mouth hanging wide open like his jaw bones had unhinged, his eyes the size of half-dollar coins. Then basic motor skills returned to his brain and his jaw began to open and clothes, like a fish swimming in a small tank. But he remained stationary, eyes fixed on the large, dark metallic being who was slowly leaning his ferocious, jagged head into the room. Uttering a low growl, the figure jerked his head towards his body, and at first, the man didn't understand. Then a clattering of wood reminded him that the little girl was still behind him.

Jessica was quick to rise to her feet, tripping slightly over the wooden beams that had fallen around her, and rush to Barricade when he beckoned to her. No words were exchanged between the two when she was close enough to reach out and touch him; she simply gave him a relieved, grateful smile and patted his metal cheek. It was then her ex-father found his voice, sputtering out gurgling noises in his shock. Red optics and blue eyes were on him at once, Barricade showing his razor sharp, fang-like metal teeth and Jessica backing slowly towards his shoulder. Barricade reached a hand across the room and placed his large fingers in front of her protectively as the putrid man in front of him began to form words.

"Wha...y-you...Wha-.." He pointed at Barricade, Jessica, and then Barricade again, still unable to process what was going on in front of him. Jessica fought the urge to smile a sadistic smirk, despite her innocence. It was finally time for him to know how her and her mother felt night after night. His fear was...almost delicious.

"Speak if you are going to do so." Barricade spat, metallic voice bouncing off the tarnished walls. "You waste my time, filthy meat bag." Jessica shot him a look, but said nothing, turning her eyes back on her father immediately.

"Who the hell are you? Get out of my house and away from my daughter!" He shouted bravely at the mech in front of him, voice cracking slightly with the fear he was trying so desperately to hide. He then turned to the smaller girl standing behind Barricade's hand, peeking out at him from between the large gaps between the clawed fingers. "Jessica, honey, come to-"

"Shut up!" she shouted, voice quivering in anger. Barricade was startled; this was not the sparkling he'd met a week ago. But he saw something in those miniscule blue optics of hers, something that had him lifting his hand and allowing her to step closer to the man that had dared try to injure his charge. Somehow, he knew she needed this; if she was to live a normal human life, as normal as having an alien robot as a protector/guardian could get, she had to say the things that were currently spilling out of her throat. "You dirty animal! You don't have a right to talk to me anymore!" Her hands curled up into tiny fists, angry tears welling up in her hardened eyes. "You hurt my mommy. You hurt me. For a long time, we've been afraid of you. You're supposed to be my daddy. The one I cry to if someone hurts me. The one who helps me learn to ride a bike. The one who scares the boys away when I'm older. But you were never any of those things. You were never here! Don't talk to me like you have the right!" Barricade felt his chest swell with pride; she would make a brilliant Decepticon asset, give or take a few years of training and schooling. He made no mistake, though; her words were dripping with the venom of her anger, nearly making the girl froth at the mouth with her madness. She raised her fist in the air then, and Barricade felt now was the time to step in. He drew her back with a single claw, being careful that she didn't come into contact with the weak, splintery wood on the ground or that she didn't obtain injury by his own claws.

"Be silent, little one." He cooed, his voice gentle as the tears finally fell from her eyes. He tightened the claw in a comforting grip, almost as if he were hugging her. "As much as I love violence, you and I both know those puny little fists wouldn't phase the filth you called father." He let himself chuckle when he called her fists "puny", hoping she wouldn't take him seriously. She must have caught it, for she snorted a little and smiled, but her lips were quivering. He drew her close to his spark protectively, his optics narrowing as they took in the sight of the older human before him. "You." He spat the word like it was the most vile thing on the planet, and grinned savagely when the man jumped. He took his free claw and gestured for him to come forth. "Come here."

He hadn't taken three steps before Barricade had him pinned to the ground, his significantly larger face merely inches away from his smaller one. Saw dust shot towards the sky with each breath the Decepticon exhaled, the man blinking to clear his eyes.

"L-look...I don't want any trouble..." He whimpered out. It was almost pathetic how weak he sounded. Barricade fought back a snort of disbelief; his charge had been terrified of this trash heap?

"Well, you've found it." Barricade grinned, his voice coming out in low, metallic sounds. "You see, your daughter discovered me the night you disappeared, and I've taken quite the liking to her. I promised I would protect her from harm, more specifically the likes of _you._ I came to make good on that promise; I'm a mech of my word." Barricade raised the claw holding the man to the ground, almost completely out of the house, and used his other hand to make Jessica face his chest plates. Despite his love of violence, he doubted her young, fragile mind would want to see something so...messy. She didn't have to be told twice, much to his relief; the filth was getting away.

The crunch of human bone shattering mixed with an earth-rumbling thud. A few dogs began to bark in the distance. A bedroom light flickered on. But no one would know what had happened. No one would know that a giant mechanical being had just taken his first human life, but certainly not the first life in general. No one would know there was a small, 9 year old child sobbing against his chest plates. No one would know a Decepticon's spark ached faintly for the femme in his hand. Though the dogs continued to bark for a few minutes longer, the neighboring bedroom light flickered off, and all was well with the rest of the world.

Jessica couldn't bear to look at where her father had once laid, weak and defenseless against the mechanical being that held her almost awkwardly against his chasis, close to where his spark, or his equivalent of a heart, lay. She had feared and despised the man with every fiber of her being, or so she thought. He was still her father. And his sudden, horrible death still struck pain into her small heart. But she didn't have time to focus on that. Something had crept into her mind fifteen minutes later, her near hysterical sobs turning into quiet hiccups.

"M-mom..." She mumbled. Barricade heard her, despite the quietness of her voice, and removed his hand. When the girl stumbled forward, beginning to search anywhere but where her father had been, he, too, began to look for her femme creator. As far as he knew, she was just as innocent of a victim as Jessica. The child had spoken highly of her mother, telling him all the stories of adventures they'd shared together over her summer breaks, what it was like to help her in the kitchen, birthday parties she'd thrown for her special little girl. Before he could move an inch, Jessica was moving wooden boards off the floor, desperately trying to reach something. Curious, Barricade inched closer, carefully stepping inside of the home and crouching lowly within it's walls. The last thing he wanted right now was for him to be discovered.

A numb silence fell onto the house when the final board was removed. Jessica didn't cry. She didn't make a sound. Move a muscle. For a while, she didn't do anything. Again, Barricade felt his spark ache for the girl, for he knew all too well what it was like to view the sight before him.

Laying underneath a few stray pieces of wood was Jessica's mother, her face peaceful and serene. Almost as if she hadn't been held at knife point only a half an hour ago. As if her husband hadn't just been flattened to a bloody pulp. As if her daughter wasn't staring blankly at her, almost as if she were a stranger. Within her chest, a jagged chunk of wood lay wedged between the small opening of the ribs that had given way to her intestines, blood coating her clothing, seeping into the wood and tainting it's light sand color a deep, horrifying maroon. Without a sound, the girl stood and turned to Barricade, an emptiness in her eyes that he'd seen before on some of his Cybertronian brethren, sometimes often in his own optics.

"They didn't have to die." She said in a stern but trembling voice. She was looking him right in the optics, any ounce of fear in her being long gone. All feeling seemed to have gone from her body, her mind forgetting what it was like to feel. But there was one emotion boiling beneath the surface...one Barricade had seen only moments before: Rage.

"Jessica, you must listen to me." He ground out, taking another hunched step closer to her. "If I had left him alive, he would have stopped at nothing to have your own blood on his hands, the very blood he helped create. I've seen that behavior before on my own planet." He stopped, but only for a second to make sure she wasn't going to cut him off; he needed to explain this to her, help her understand before her anger and grief became too much for her. Seeing that she was still eerily calm, he continued. "I've seen many a mech and femme exhibit the same behavior patterns, including my own Decepticon brothers. Even myself." He mumbled the last part quietly, hoping she didn't catch. "As for your mother.." His eyes shifted to the woman's still form, and he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time; guilt. Oh how it tore at his spark, made it ache and throb with a pain that no enemy could ever befall him. "It was...a terrible accident. I did not want for her to die."

"Well, she did." Jessica spat, her voice that was once fiery hot with a searing rage that could have bore right through the toughest of metals, including Barricade's own Cybertronian armor, now replaced with a frigid, chilling emptiness, one that made him feel as if his energon pipes were freezing just by being close to her. She cast a softened look down at her mother, the rage coming in ebbs and flows like the ocean tides. "Now...and now I have no one." She snapped her gaze up at him before he could open his lip plates to reply. "'Cade, I want you to leave. Now. Don't ever come back. I never want to see those red eyes of yours again." She didn't have to raise her voice, she didn't have to throw things or point in a random direction. He understood her completely just by the tone of her voice; if Megatron had heard it, he would have been quaking in his armor.

Barricade just stared at her for a moment. She stared back. There was not one single thing that gave away any secret desire for him to stay, any faltering in her desire for him to leave. He didn't bother to ask if she was certain of her decision. He didn't wait around for her to think it over. With a simple bowing of his head, Barricade quietly stepped out of the house and began his treck back to the forests. He stopped, however, just behind a large tree when police sirens filled the air. His optics locked onto a police cruiser that pulled into the driveway, followed by three other similar vehicles, a fire truck and an ambulance.

As he let his internal scanners skim over one of the police vehicles, he watched the men and women run into the house as Jessica finally sank to her knees beside her mother, that spark-breaking blank look in her once vivid blue eyes. Scan complete, he quickly transformed into his alternative mode; a police vehicle. If the car could smirk, it would have. She ordered him away. He was a free mech now, able to do as he pleased without the worry of a charge. And what he wanted was to protect her.

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><p><strong>...I like this chapter! =D I know it got really really serious, kinda icky and depressing there for a while, but it's okay, things will pick up soon. I think. I dunno. I just wing this stuff. ^.^;; So. It's almost 4 in the morning and I'm still awake. I should be heading to bed, but I'm still kind of awake. My parents went to a Def Leppard concert for the state fair and I had to babysit my little brothers. Granted they got me a T-Shirt and a Monster XXL for in the morning to make up for leaving me with those two yahoos I call brothers [I love 'em, don't get me wrong, but they can run a chick down x.x;;;], I'm exhausted. But yet I can't sleep. All nighter? Doubt it. I got a party to go later today, technically. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Review! <strong>


	4. First Day on the Job and Reunion

**Hey there everyone! I want to thank Killing Doves for giving me the idea for this chapter. :D Killing Doves, you've probably saved me from a good couple of hours trying to figure out what to do with this chapter. Cause honestly, I had no idea how I was going to do it. x) Anyway, read on, everyone! **

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><p><strong>12 years later...<strong>

Jessica looked up at the building labeled "Mission City Police Department" and gulped nervously, fingers clutching the small bag that contained her freshly prepared lunch tightly. Looking both ways, she crossed the street from the bus stop and weaved around the crowd of people around the building and went up the stairs. Once inside, she looked around to get a feel of the place. People of kinds were wandering around; there was an older woman talking to someone about a missing dog, a small child tagging along side a police officer with bruises on his face and clutching a teddy bear tightly in his free arm, and a woman shrinking back from the touch of a female police officer as she tried to look at her side. Every now and again an orange jump suit and a filthy face or a clean cut lawyer would appear in the crowd of faces, but she wasn't interested in them. It was the people in front of her, the victims, that she was there for. Jessica let her mind wander idly as she began the treck to her new boss' office, gut twisting with nerves.

Ever since that night, the night her parents died, Jessica had been determined. She had spent a brief amount of time at an orphanage while the foster care system put her information on file and set her up with parents, and she'd met a couple of children that had been in a similar situation that she had been. One, she remembered his name was Jordan, had beaten by his mother almost daily, even when he did nothing wrong. Little Sarah, a girl she still kept in contact with, had been raped and beaten by her father and removed from their home. Jessica had filled them in on her tale, getting several sympathetic hugs from the children in the bedroom that night. However, she'd had to alternate it for appearances' sake.

She couldn't tell them about Barricade. She couldn't just openly tell them how she'd stumbled across his crash site one night 12 years ago, how he would hold her in his clawed, metal hand and look at her with those large red eyes. And she most definitely couldn't tell them that he'd saved her life that night, and killed her father. It had taken years, but she'd come to terms with her mothers' accidental death. The moment she forgave Barricade, she'd began to regret her decision to send him away. She'd lay awake at night, staring up at the moon and the stars, wondering where on Earth he was, what he was doing, if he was even on Earth, if there were others like him coming. As she exited the elevator and began walking towards her boss' office, she felt her throat begin to close up. She would never get answers to those questions, and she would never see the giant robot who had saved her life again.

"Ah, Ms. Briggs." She snapped out of her thoughts when her boss approached her, a smile on his chubby face. He stood up and grabbed a paper and clip board off his desk and turned back around to her, the smile never once fading. "So, are you ready to get your patrol car?" She smiled, the first-day jitters quickly disappating to make room for her excitement. She'd been waiting for this moment for 3 years now; ever since she graduated high school and went straight to a small local college and a police academy right after, she'd been dreaming of this moment. The moment she'd be behind the wheel of a squad car ready to do her part to make a difference in the world, to make the community she'd spent the rest of her growing up years in a safer place.

"I've never been more ready." He smiled wider at her, glad his newest recruit was ready to get to work immediately and gestured to the door. "After you." She nearly skipped out the door and into the elevator, then waited impatiently for her boss to press the button that would take them to the ground floor. The elevator ride seemed to take forever, though there were only 3 floors in the building in total, and Jessica wasted no time in hopping off the elevator once the metal doors opened.

It didn't take long for them to get to the lot where a few squad cars were sitting in their designated parking spaces, all of them looking a little old or wore down. Jessica felt her heart sink a little; she knew the police department was having some trouble with funding, but this was insane. Some of the cars looked like they'd been there for a while and had seen their fair share of wild days. One even had a couple of bullet holes in the tail end.

"Well." Her boss said, the smile still on his face like the cars before them were the most beautiful works of art in the world. "Take your pick!" Jessica nodded stiffly and stepped forward, gravel crunching under her feet as she made her way to the closest car to look it over. It looked filthier on the inside than it did outside; someone had forgotten to remove their McDonald's garbage before abandoning the car, and she thought she seen a puke stain on the back seat. She immediately averted her eyes and tried to ignore the sound of tires crunching on gravel behind her and the occasional revving of a powerful engine. She did, however, turn around when she heard her boss bark a question to someone.

Behind them was a beautiful, powerful looking Saleen Mustang, complete with the black and white paint job, police logos, and sirens. Inside was a filthy looking man dressed in an outfit typically found on a mechanic. She guessed he was the one who worked on the police cars. Despite his status though, Jessica wanted to hit him with the even filthier once white rag hanging out of his pocket; he was too dirty to be in such a pristine, new car.

"Aye boss, sorry 'bout the interruption, but the sample car is here." He gestured widely about the interior of the Mustang, a broad grin underneath his slight black mustache. "What do you think?"

"She's a beauty." Her boss said, running his hand along the hood. "Absolutely stunning." He turned to Jessica then, who jumped up eagerly. "How about you take this one?" He said, grinning. "I wouldn't normally pass of such a beautiful piece of machinery to a newbie, but think of this as a kind of a test of your skills." He nodded toward an empty parking spot and looked to the mechanic. "Go park her, Ricky. Jessie will be out in a minute." Jessica frowned slightly as the mechanic nodded and pulled the car forward. She didn't like being called nicknames if she could help it. Especially not "Jessie"...sounded too cowboy-ish for her. She followed the car with her eyes as it slowly eased forward, engine growling impressively as if the car was irritated. Before she could turn away, her eyes caught site of something on the side of the car, closer to the trunk: "To punish and enslave..." was painted in white cursive letters along the side, and despite the pretty choice of font, it made her gulp. Were squad cars supposed to have that on them..?

_Maybe it's a joke. _She thought to herself as her boss clapped her on the shoulder roughly.

"How's about you go get changed up and get on the road?" He said, grin still on his face. Did that guy ever stop smiling? She didn't wanna find out, she decided, as she nodded and skipped up to the building without another word.

**oOoOoOo**

30 minutes later, Jessica bounced up to the squad car, giddy as a little girl on Christmas day with the keys dangling in her hands. She had changed into a typical police uniform; black short sleeve shirt with a name tag and a golden badge, a black hat that was just a little too big for her head, black slacks and a pair of black combat boots she had brought from home. She felt the outfit made her look bigger than she really was and looked hideous on her, but when she opened that Mustang's driver's side door, she could care less. Even thoughts about her current mission fled from her mind when she sat on the brand new leather seats that were soft and comfortable to the touch, the new car smell hitting her nostrils like it was the most pleasant scent in the world. She let her fingers roam the steering wheel gently, but was surprised when she was met with a sudden static charge that made her hands throb painfully.

"Ouch." She hissed, drawing her hands back and clutching them to her chest. Anger flaring up suddenly, she smacked the dashboard with the same amount of force she felt had been used behind the shock. "Stupid car." She reached for the steering wheel again, and was met with the same shock as before, only this time there was a little more of a kick to it. "Ow! Fuck!" She hissed, smacking the dashboard again. "Stop it!" She hissed. As if the car could actually feel her hitting it and hear her yelling at it. She wanted to laugh at herself. If only her boss could see her now. She reached her hands out for the steering wheel again, unphased by the previous shocks, and was floored when she felt the tiniest excuse for a shock, almost questioning and timid in nature.

Almost immediately she was taken back 12 years ago when she first met Barricade. When she had returned to him the next day, she'd wanted to touch him to make sure he was real. His red optics hadn't been on, so, thinking he was fast asleep, she had crept up to him and reached out to touch his hand.

She had been met with a shock of warning, and she had reacted the same way she had earlier, retaliating with a smack on the hand. Not knowing she was being watched now, she had reached her hand out again and received a stronger shock, to which she retaliated against. The third time she reached out, she was met with a light shock, almost questioning and timid, just like the third and final shock had been, but she didn't smack him or yell at him. She had just placed her small hands on the warm metal that consisted of his finger and looked up at him timidly. She'd seen the red glow of his optics on the dewy grass, and she'd known he was awake.

"Barricade.." She whispered quietly. She really did miss him. The car seemed to start at that, causing Jessica to jump forward in her seat and nearly smack her forehead against the car horn. "The fuck?" She spat, turning around to see if someone had accidentally hit her on their way into the parking lot or something. She was honestly shocked to find that there was no one to be seen; the old wore out police cars were still sitting quietly in their spots, gathering rust and dust. The mechanic was no where to be found, and she was the only patrol officer still at the station. She let out a huff of air and smacked the steering wheel lightly, reached forward and put her key in the ignition. "Stupid car...making me think I'm insane..." Her anger instantly disappeared when the engine turned over and the engine roared to life, then settled into an almost hypnotic purr.

She took great care in backing the Mustang out of the parking lot, not wanting to scratch it up in any way. She was even more careful getting it out of the parking lot, weaving around the poorly parked back end's of other cars. She couldn't help but smile when she pulled out onto the main road and caused quite a stir. People at the stop light not five feet passed the police station were staring, some not even noticing that their light had turned green. People on the sidewalk were gawking as they walked, some men whistling appreciatively. Jessica giggled and rubbed the steering wheel as she waited for the red light to turn green, remembering suddenly that she had a job to do.

"Well, big guy, you ready to kick some ass and take names?" The car's engine flared at that without her having to touch the gas pedal, causing the people staring to gasp in shock at the sudden ferocious noise. Despite the loudness to it, it sounded almost...happy. Could cars sound happy? Deciding not to wait for an answer, Jessica gripped the steering wheel tightly and as the light turned green, she pressed on her gas pedal and shot over the line, laughter bubbling up in her throat. "Then let's go!"

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><p>Barricade couldn't believe his luck. He'd been found along side the road by humans while he had been in recharge and had been locked away into a storage yard ever since. Any time someone approached him with their simplistic tools, he'd do something to torment them. Sometimes he'd shock them. Sometimes he'd slam their heads with his hood when they opened it, and sometimes he would "accidentally" roll forward and hit them in their knees. They'd finally given up on him, and the night they did he literally busted out of the junk yard, taking half the gate with him in the process. He'd had to pull into an abandoned field to transform and remove the rusty metal from his body before he could continue on. He was on on his way to Mission City, the place where Jessica had moved to since college. He'd over heard her talking to her foster parents about school, and from the way she talked he thought she was coming back. It was obvious when her foster parents came back from her graduation Jessica-less that she had remained behind.<p>

It was a long journey. At first things had been going smoothly, until he'd had actual police officers on his tail. They'd somehow picked up his radio frequency and were trying to decipher if he was a part of their squad, as one of their cars had gone missing recently and he had no license plate, and if he wasn't what unit he was from. He'd just shut off his radio and drove faster, his Cybertronian technology bettering their meager Earth engines despite his alt mode being that of a later date. He hadn't changed it since the night Jessica had told him to leave.

Then there was traffic. He'd wind up in outrageous traffic jams that had him cursing loudly in Cybertronian and multiple Earth languages. He'd get behind slow drivers and would have to obey the laws of the road if he was to keep under cover. Despite the irritation, he took his previous orders to remain hidden on Earth while searching for information about the All Spark very seriously and grudgingly trailed behind the slower drivers. He'd sometimes stop to recharge at rest stops and found himself blocked in by semi trucks. That had been a frustrating experience. He'd wanted to chew the drivers out for being idiots, but without any way to take on a human form, even if he was just a hologram, he was left grumbling to himself and trying to figure out a way to get around the trucks. He eventually had waited until he was sure no one at the rest stop was awake and transformed into his alt mode, stepping as quietly as he could over the trucks and quickly transforming back. Then there were the wrecks. How fun those had been.

He'd been involved in three collisions, each of them being a drunk driver. Their cars hadn't done much damage to him or themselves, so he'd settled with fleeing the scene before anyone could point out that he was driving himself. When he finally reached Mission City, he hacked into the police database and was beyond thrilled to see Jessica's name and updated photo in their data banks as an employee in the makings. He'd also stumbled upon an e-mail from the man who ran the show to a company where they received their vehicles that read that they were looking to buy new, updated vehicles to replace the older ones on their lot. Barricade had wasted no time in getting to that facility and loading himself onto the truck before an actual squad car could take his place.

He wasn't happy when the filthy excuse for a mechanic touched him. He'd given him quite the shock when he touched his steering wheel, but to his dismay the pest continued to run his greasy hands along the leather seats and radio. It took everything in his power not to reveal himself to Jessica when he was driven into the lot. She hadn't been looking at him, but he'd known it was her. When she turned around to look at him, his engine nearly stalled. For an earth female, she wasn't half bad looking, and she'd grown up. She was slightly curvy, having grown into a young woman since he'd last been in direct contact with her, and her hair was now a warm shade of brown and her skin tanned. He noticed, however, that her eyes didn't glow like they used to. They retained that haunted look he had seen the night he left, a look he would know anywhere. It was subtle, like a scar fading from the flesh, but it was still there.

When she got into his car, he fought very hard with himself not to reveal who he really was to her through the radio. He wasn't a fool, but he certainly felt like one. He wanted to talk to her about that night, apologize fiercely for anything wrong he had done, and explain to her that he hadn't meant to kill her mother. He wanted to speak with her, talk to her, learn more about her. Most importantly, he wanted to protect her again; though she was a grown woman now, he still sensed some child-like innocence within her, remnants from the past that had been locked away when she had her family ripped out of her life. She reached out for his steering wheel, and he knew then what he could to do reveal himself in a very subtle way.

He shocked her.

He laughed mentally at her expression; it changed from shock to frustration in a matter of seconds. The car nearly shook with the laughter he could barely contain when she hit his dash board. Like her puny fists would ever hurt him. He shocked her again, harder this time, his sadistic side taking over when she flinched back from the pain and hit him harder. The next shock was more controlled, and he sank slightly on his wheels when recognition flashed through her eyes.

"Barricade..." She had murmured quietly, and he lurched forward in surprise. She didn't recognize him, even after the shocks. She looked sad, eyes clouded over slightly as she remembered the memory that he had gotten the shock tactic from. She carefully manouvered him out of the parking lot and onto the street without his knowledge, not knowing that her car was currently at war with himself and trying to make a decision on something. He wanted her to remember. He was not a patient mech, especially now that she was sitting within him, and he wasn't going to sit around all day and wait for her to eventually catch on. No. He didn't have time. Especially since Frenzy, his partner that had landed three years ago on Earth to assist him, had left a week ago to attempt to finish what Blackout had started two days ago; he was going to board the United States' President's airplane, Air Force One they called it, and hack their network of information to see what they could find. Barricade had no doubts that Frenzy would work very quickly and be more successful than the careless larger mech had been at the military base on the other side of the planet, so he had to act quickly himself. He didn't have much time.

He snapped out of his thoughts when she began to rub her thumb against his steering wheel and trembled. Her touch was still as gentle as it had been when she was a child, though he could most definitely feel it now. He hadn't had an alt mode then, and his metal frame wasn't as sensitive as the interior of his alt form. If he could have smiled, he would have when she did. Recognition was still in her eyes, but she looked as if she still couldn't put her tiny organic finger on it.

"Well big guy, you ready to kick some ass and take some names?" She asked him, her voice trembling with excitement. Barricade flared his engine in response, happy that she had spoken to him. No, he wasn't ready to have drunken humans in his back seat, he wasn't ready to babysit criminals or deal with their pleas of innocence and frustration. But, he was ready to help her with what she needed, to protect her from the dangerous humans she'd be around daily. "Then let's go!" She shouted as her foot slammed into his gas pedal and they shot off, both human and machine being happier than they had been in a long time.

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><p><strong>Alright! Chapter 4 is finished! :D Again, I want to thank Killing Doves for the idea. I didn't really know what I was going to do with this chapter until they mentioned that, so kudos to them! :) Anyway, review and lemme know what you think of it. I'll start work on Chapter 5 shortly!<strong>

*~A little note: Jessica was only 9 when she met Barricade, and one week had passed from the time she met 'Cade up until her parents died. I don't know why I put "3 months" where I did...I really don't. And she's 21 now. :)


	5. Shot

**Hey everyone! So I'm like, going crazy over all the reviews I'm getting. :D I can't believe so many people have reviewed so far! I'm not really all that used to it; when I'd write for anime I wouldn't get all that many reviews, but here I'm getting tons. I love it! :D Anyway, down to business. Here's the next chapter for you guys! **

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><p>Jessica had had a long day. Sure she had no problem chasing down that guy who had been breaking into an elderly woman's home, and she had no issues tackling a coked out woman who had been trying to get sexual with a married man in front of his wife and children, but combined with that and running all over the city she was utterly exhausted. Once she'd clocked out of work she headed straight home, stomach grumbling in desire for a warm dinner and her eyes drooping slightly. By the time she pulled into the driveway of the small home she'd managed to rent out with the spare money she'd had in her college fund, she wasn't sure if she was going to make it inside without passing out.<p>

She sleepily made to roll her window up and turn the car off, but when she reached for the key she collapsed against the steering wheel, eyes shut. It wasn't too much longer before a small shock to the forehead had her jolting upright, looking around for the culprit. Seeing no one, she glared daggers at the steering wheel, then slapped it out of retaliation.

"Hey. Stop it." She thought it was the sleep getting to her, but she swore she felt the car _shake _as if it was laughing at her. She punched the center of the wheel, jumping slightly when the horn bleeped a little. "Stop laughing at me." The car trembled slightly harder, and she shook her head and stepped out of the car, removing the keys and making sure the doors were locked before she marched up the stairs and slammed her door shut. After locking it, she proceeded to the kitchen to make a quick bowl of ramen so she could get to bed faster.

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><p>Barricade sank low on his axles when she entered the house, allowing himself to relax slightly in the driveway. He was tired, despite the training he had undergone on Cybertron and his superior programming. He hadn't meant to laugh like that at her when she fell asleep on his steering wheel and got mad at him shocking her, but he didn't care. He wanted her to realize it was him she was driving around town, not some standard issue police vehicle. Why she hadn't recognized him earlier was beyond him, but he had received an update from Frenzy two hours ago that had him anxious. He had been in the hangar of the plane, and was just waiting for the opportune moment to board it. He'd taken on the alt mode of a small portable stereo and secured himself somewhere within a box that was to be taken aboard during the next flight, and now all he had to do was wait.<p>

He vented slightly, and if anyone had been paying attention to the car in the driveway, they would have visibly seen it rise and fall. He was going to have to do something, and fast. Making up his mind as he watched the kitchen light turn off and a light in the opposite side of the house turn on a minute later, he allowed himself to fall into recharge for the night.

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><p>The next morning, Jessica had a hard time waking up. She wasn't ready to get up at 5:30 in the morning like her schedule had forced her to do, but she was up none the less. It took her no time to shower and put on her uniform, and even less time to eat breakfast. Making sure she had everything, she grabbed her car keys off the kitchen counter and headed for the car, locking her door behind her.<p>

She was quickly faced with a problem. No matter which way she turned her keys, no matter what button she pushed on the small remote control attached to the key itself, the locks would not come up from their current position. Cursing, she smacked the door a couple of times and tried to manually unlock the car. Finding that it wasn't working, she kicked the door out of frustration and tried again.

"Come on..." She whined, staring to consider breaking out the window. "I gotta get to work! Unlock you stupid piece of-" At that, the locks came up with a click, leaving Jessica standing in her driveway with one foot on the door and both hands on the key in the door. Blinking in surprise, she lowered her foot from the door, the keys from the slot, and opened the door. "I guess I need to chew you out more often, huh?" She mumbled quietly, shutting the door behind her and putting on her seat belt. When she put the key in the ignition, she got a slight shock. "Ow! What is it with you and shocking me?" She smacked the steering wheel and shoved the key into the ignition.

"Jessica." She heard the deep, familiar voice ringing through the entire vehicle. Without thinking, she whipped out her gun and turned around in her seat, thinking about ways to get out of shooting someone directly in the face who had been inside of her vehicle, but was fully surprised when she was met with no one. It may have been dark in the vehicle, but she could easily tell there was no one else in the car with her. She lowered her weapon slowly, feeling her heart rate begin to increase.

"This is just weird..." She whispered, slowly putting it back in her holster in case she might have needed to whip it out again to defend herself. "I'm hearing things."

"No you're not." Huffed the voice impatiently, causing her to jump and give a little scream. "You may have grown up in human terms but you're still just a sparkling." She turned around and looked at the radio when the voice spoke again, noting that it seemed to be coming from there.

"Who are you and what the-wait, sparkling...?" The term caught her off guard, and her mind began to whirl. The voice, the shock, the calling her human and a sparkling, the laughter when she hurt herself, the way her door had randomly come open when she was giving chase to the man who had broken into the old lady's house to stop him from running...why hadn't she put it all together before? "B-Barricade...?" She questioned quietly, putting her hands on the steering wheel gently. She couldn't, no, wouldn't believe it. Not yet. There was no way that giant being she had met as a kid had somehow turned himself into a police vehicle. But on the other hand, it did make sense; the way it behaved, the way the voice had sounded impatient, it was all him. She briefly remembered the words on the tail end of the car; "To punish and enslave..."

"You act surprised." The car shook with a slight chuckle.

"I am." She said, dead panning. "I told to you leave all those years ago..." She trailed sadly, letting her thumb run down the side of the wheel. "I..Barricade, I'm sorry." She murmured, leaning forward and resting her forehead against the center of the wheel. "I didn't...I was just..." She heard the voice sigh and the car sank slightly on the ground.

"I understand." It may have been only two words, but she could hear slight relief in the tone, mixed together with a little sadness and fatigue. "Now then." He said, voice suddenly strong. The seat belt tightened on her, forcing her to sit up. "I believe you have a job to do." She grinned, remembering just who she was sitting in.

"Nope. _We _have a job to do. You're still my car, and I'm sure you didn't follow me from home just to hear me apologize."

"You'd be surprised." Was all he said. Laughing, she smacked the steering wheel and jumped when the engine turned itself on.

"Guess I don't need keys anymore, eh?" She said, gripping the steering wheel as the car began to back out of the driveway without her even having to switch gears.

"Or drive." He agreed, pulling out of the small subdivision and heading for the police station.

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><p>"Calling Ms. Briggs, calling Ms. Briggs, come in." The small police radio in the car rang out, interrupting Jessica mid bite. She'd been on her lunch break, having stopped at McDonald's for a quick bite. She had been leaning in Barricade, door wide open as they sat idly in the park draped in a comfortable silence. Groaning and quickly swallowing what was in her mouth, she reached her hand out and snatched up the radio receiver and clicked a button.<p>

"Dispatch, this is Ms. Briggs, go ahead." She said, releasing the button.

"We have a possible shoot out in progress. Suspect is armed. A shot has been fired, no confirmed injuries at this time. Please head to the coordinates provided on your GPS." Said GPS sprung to life and Jessica dropped her Angus burger into its box on the passenger seat.

"10-4, I'm on my way." She gripped the steering wheel as the engine roared to life, her foot itching to slam onto the gas pedal. Instead, the car lurched forward, squealing tires and burning rubber on the pavement as she whipped out of the small parking space. The sirens above her flared to life, piercing the calm atmosphere of the park. "For someone who hates humans, you really are jumpy to act, 'Cade." She snickered as they barreled through a stop light. Barricade snorted over the radio.

"If I had my way, I'd let the humans shoot each other. Imbecile probably deserved it. However, you do have a job to do." He grouched, fish-tailing around a corner and barreling toward the location that had been sent through his internal communications. Jessica responded by slapping him.

"Hey, you saved me, didn't you?" She said, her voice harsh. She relaxed in a defeated manner, not even bothering to pay attention to the road as the location she needed to go grew closer and closer. "I probably deserved it too." She remembered the harsh, cold words her father had shouted at her the night he died and shivered. She _had _been the reason he was sent to jail, the reason he'd been caught. She'd wanted him out of her life, but she didn't expect him to return so quickly and so angry, even sober. Barricade slammed on his brakes in the gas station parking lot, having arrived to the scene quickly, but locked the door so she couldn't get out.

"Jessica, I did not mean it like that." He said from the radio. She glared at him.

"And how did you mean it?" She felt the car relax as he let out a sound akin to a sigh.

"I dislike humans with a passion. But make no mistake, you are the only exception." She blinked at him, taken off guard. She suddenly smiled, ignoring the shouts outside.

"Says the big bad Decepticon who is programmed to kill all things." She gave the wheel a playful slap and jiggled the door handle. "Now lemme out." He unlocked the door and watched her immediately switch personalities; she went from the seemingly innocent girl he'd met years ago to a take-charge, commanding and powerful woman who was not to be trifled with. Barricade felt himself heat up when she began to shout; he found this new side of her quite appealing.

"Put your hands in the air where I can see them!" She shouted, glaring and pointing her gun at the man in front of her. He whirled on her and pointed his own weapon at her, and Jessica felt her heat leap a little. This wasn't a training exercise, this was the real deal. She really had a gun trained on her, and in the blink of an eye her life could be taken just like that. She took a step forward, not moving her weapon in the slightest or taking her eyes off the man in front of her. "Put your hands in the air! Now!" When the man didn't comply, she removed one hand from the gun and quickly spoke into the small radio attached to her body. "Dispatch, I'm gonna need some back up out here, and maybe a bus. Suspect is not complying." She quickly put both hands on the gun and jerked it up. "Do as I say and put your hands in the air!" She jerked her gun again, her confidence failing. "Do what I say and lower your weapon or I will shoot you!"

She didn't know what to think when a gun shot rang through the air and pain shot through her side. She didn't know what to do when the man dropped his gun and ran. There was a whirring of metal and another shot rang through the air, dropping the man instantly. There were several screams filling the air as she put a hand on her side and drew it up. Her hand trembled at the sight of the blood that coated her hand, and the world around her began to spin. She was vaguely aware of a pair of hands preventing her from collapsing as blood drained quickly from the wound.

"Slag. Hold on." A familiar voice echoed around her as she slowly lost consciousness. "Fragging femme, stay awake!" Was the last thing she heard before the darkness that had been playing with the edge of her vision consumed her.

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><p><strong>Oh snap, she got shot! And just who saved her, I wonder? ;D Anyway, review! I'm sure the next chapter will be uploaded quickly; I'm itching to write what happens next! <strong>


	6. Frenzy and a Holoform

**Alright, I'm sure everyone is eager to read what happens next, so I'm just going to skip the small talk and get right to it. :) **

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><p>"Frenzy, don't touch her." A voice growled. There was a furious whirring of metal and a few clicking sounds as something drew back from her.<p>

"W-w-w-hy do you have h-h-uman in alt m-mode?" Someone stuttered out. Jessica honestly wanted nothing more than to hit whoever was in the car with her. She was slowly coming back around, and those voices were really pissing her off.

"That is none of your concern." The familiar voice growled dangerously. She could hear the leather moving underneath the man's weight as he shifted to look behind the seat at her. "Open your eyes, femme. I know you're awake." Jessica groaned and lazily flipped him off as she struggled to sit up. "Obscene hand gestures will get you no where." She repeated the action as she opened her eyes groggily, looking around her.

She definitely wasn't in Mission City anymore. She guessed she was at an air port, as there was a rather large air plane in front of them. Staring at her was both a man she had never seen before and a bot that probably came up to her shoulder. It had a sleek, silver frame and blue eyes, it's head a mess of spikey metal. It was quickly looking from her to the man in the driver's seat in confusion, and she guessed this bot was Frenzy. She looked then at the man and gave a slight gasp.

To say he was handsome was an understatement to shake the ages. He was wearing a charcoal grey police uniform, a small symbol she didn't quite recognize clipped to both sides of his collar. His skin was tanned like that of a Latino, his eyes a deep ruby red that matched his skin tone perfectly. His hair was slicked back and jet black, a few spikes sticking up. He had a little facial hair, three black spikes; one was situated nicely on the center of his chin and didn't go past it no more than an inch, and he had two spikes on the sides with smooth skin in between the three tufts. He was regarding her with a look of concern mixed with irritation and amusement, his lip curling slightly when the silver bot reached forward.

"D-d-did you inj-j-jure the f-f-emme?" The bot sputtered, lifting a small silver finger and reaching forward to poke her side. She hissed in pain when the warm metal came into contact with it and jerked back. The man instantly reacted, pinning the small bot against the side of the seat and snarling animalistictly.

"Keep your filthy servos off of her, Frenzy." He spat. The bot didn't do or say anything, just sat limply under the man's grip. When he was released, he sputtered like he was coughing, a hand going to his throat.

"B-B-arricade..g-going soft.." He coughed out and the car gave a lurch forward. Frenzy fell onto the seat beside Jessica, who drew her legs up and ignored the pain in her side.

"Shut up. Jessica." The man Frenzy had been calling Barricade turned to her then, expression softening. "Climb up front with me. He can sit his ignorant aft in the back." Frenzy groaned from the floor board and Jessica complied, not knowing what else to do. The man carefully helped her manouver between the seats and buckled her seat belt for her before pulling out of the air port quickly, keeping his sirens off.

"Are...are you Barricade?" She asked, reaching a hand out to touch his face. The skin beneath her fingers was smooth and taught, the slight bit of hair she touched feeling just as soft and realistic as hers did. He flinched under her touch, but he relaxed slightly when her fingers went for his hair.

"Yes. This is called a holoform. Only a few of us Decepticons have one, and I have no doubts that the Autobots will end up with their own." He explained, gesturing to his body with one of his hands. "Most of us don't like to use them for obvious reasons. I didn't have a choice in the matter." He looked at her then, a playful glare on his face. "Someone decided to get shot." She smacked his arm, noticing that there seemed to be a bit of muscle under that uniform.

"Shut up. I didn't ask for the guy to shoot me. He just did." At that, Jessica lifted up the tank top she wore under her uniform and noticed the injury had scabbed over, but for the most part looked healed. "Did someone work on me while I was out?" Barricade gave a slight snort as he pulled onto the interstate.

"I did. You humans are so difficult when it comes to anatomy. I'm not a medic but I can usually heal a small injury or two. That," he pointed at her side. "was difficult to say the least. I pulled the bullet out and destroyed it, cleaned the wound and helped it heal along the way." He shrugged. "Despite your complicated anatomy, the procedure was pretty basic." Jessica smiled slightly, letting out a sigh.

"That's the second time you've saved my life. You can't be all that bad if you'd save a member of a race you find to be disgusting." Barricade snorted again, but smirked.

"This is also the second time I've killed the human who believed he could injure my charge." She blinked at him, surprised. So that's what had happened...She sighed and leaned against the window of the driver's seat, feeling a little tired.

"Again, thank you." She yawned, trying her best to cover her mouth.

"You need rest." He said simply, pulling into a near by rest stop. "We both do." He let out a weary sigh and leaned against the seat as it reclined, the car sinking on its axles at the exact same moment he relaxed. The car was silent for a few moments, save Frenzy's quick transformation into his stereo alt mode. Barricade and Jessica remained awake, both lost in their own thoughts.

"'Cade?" She whispered, not wanting to wake up Frenzy.

"Hmm?" He said, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

"I never did apologize fully for sending you off like that." She began slowly, finding it hard to look into those red eyes of his. "At the time I didn't know what to think or how to act. I was upset. I kept to myself for 3 years, hating you for what happened." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It felt good to finally get it out after all those years of holding it in. "And then finally I got tired of it. I realized that you didn't kill my mother on purpose. It was an accident, something out of our control. I also realized that I really didn't want to send you off like that. You saved my life and here I was telling you to go away." She laughed, but there was no humor to it.

"Jessica." She looked up at him and seen he was laying on his side in the seat, facing her with an intent look in his eyes. "I forgave you the instant it happened. I may be a Decepticon but I'm not stupid. I understand what you were going through. I've witnessed others in the same situation. I myself have gone through it." He mumbled the last part, avoiding her eyes for a moment. "But I don't regret it." He let out a small sigh, one side of his mouth pulling up in a smile. "Despite my dislike for the human race, I've grown tired of the war. Of fighting. Of killing without a second thought. This planet isn't that bad. It's inhabitants, however, get on my nerves." He flinched when she threw an empty McDonald's fry container at him, but smiled wider. "Like I said." This earned him a thump on the nose.

"Smart ass." She mumbled, smiling. She was quiet for a moment before she said anything else. "'Cade?"

"Hmm?" He looked up at her, the smile still on his face, but only slight.

"Can..can I have a hug?" The smile faded away instantly and he stared at her blankly.

"A what?"

"A hug." He looked up the word and raised a dark eyebrow at her.

"Why would you want that?" She shrugged, sitting up.

"I dunno. Maybe because I just wanna show you I'm grateful that you've saved my life twice?" She offered, shrugging again. Barricade looked to his left in thought, staring at the leather seat he was propped up against. Letting out a small puff of hair from his nose he sat up, hoping Frenzy really was recharging and not watching.

"Alright. But don't-" before he could finish his sentence her face was buried in his shoulder and her arms were tightly wrapped around his waist. At first he just stared at the top of her head, not knowing what to do. He had never known a femme's gentle touch on Cybertron, the war having consumed everything in its path. His body was used to violence, metal claws tearing at him during training or if he had angered Megatron in any way, bullets and cannon blasts assaulting his armor during daily battles against Autobots. He didn't know what to do, so he just mimicked what the young woman in his arms had done and found himself surprisingly content. It was...a nice change.

"This isn't so bad, is it?" Jessica smiled against his chest, voice muffled by his shirt. She giggled when he let out a sigh of exasperation, but let his hand rise up and stroke her hair. Even though he was just a holoform and this wasn't his real self, the sensations were certainly realistic. She shivered as his trimmed finger nails grazed over part of her scalp.

"You confuse me." She giggled again, pulling her head back to look up at him.

"That's me." She gave him a bright smile and he just shook his head, the corners of his lips twitching up.

"You need your rest." She responded by letting her head fall against his chest with a small thud.

"Alright. G'night." When she made no move to return to her seat, Barricade let out a quiet sigh that she mistook for exasperation. "What? You're warm and comfortable." Not wanting to irritate him further, she removed her arms from around his middle and began to lean back into her own seat, shivering slightly when she came into the contact with the now cooled leather. She was startled out of the grogginess that had began to settle in her mind when Barricade grabbed her wrists and pulled her back onto his chest, entrapping her in his arms.

"I never said you could leave." She blushed slightly, but grinned at a sudden thought.

"I hope you know this is a pretty big show of slightly intimate affection." She said, the smile obvious in her voice. She couldn't stop the giggle fit that erupted when he stiffened and pushed her away slightly.

"What do you mean?" She raised an eyebrow at him, so he continued. "You said that was a sign of affection, but from my understanding of your culture there are several different...levels of affection. Explain." Sighing, she sat up on her own and crossed her arms over her chest. She would have been glad to explain this to him at any other time of the day, but right now she was having to fight sleep away long enough to keep her eyes at least half open. Being shot in the side, healed and dragged to who knows where in the middle of the night took a lot out of you.

"What we were doing is a sign of either extremely friend or romantic affection. It's something only the best and closest of friends allow, and something you would do with your lover or partner." Barricade seemed to jump at the last one.

"Partner?" He looked nervously at the small stereo sitting on the back seat and Jessica laughed, covering her hand so she wouldn't wake up Frenzy.

"Not that kind of partner, 'Cade! I'm talking like boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife, that kind of thing." He looked up the terms again, both of his eyebrows shooting up in response to his results.

"N-now wait a second, I-I never-" She held up a hand, body racking with the laughter she was so desperately trying to hold back.

"I know, 'Cade. We're not lovers. We're friends. I don't even think it's possible for a human and a bot to really be together." She said, leaning back against her cold seat. "I mean the emotions could be there, but...how would one go about acting on that?" Barricade sighed and leaned back against his own seat with his hands behind his head as Jessica's eye lids fluttered shut, her jaw falling slightly slack and her heart rate slowing.

"That's a good question." He muttered to the upholstered ceiling above him before closing his eyes and allowing himself to fall into recharge.

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><p><strong>Oh dear. :o I wonder why he said that? ;) Anyway, review! I know this chapter is short, but I felt like that was a good place to stop. I'll get to work on the next chapter here shortly! Mom wants me to accept her neighbor request on Sims Social on Facebook. -le sigh- <strong>


	7. Going Home

**Bah! So I was going to put this chapter up yesterday, but I got a little stuck. I didn't know how to approach this chapter, because I want to get some action going and get Barricade and Jessica involved in the main movie plot [first movie] and stuff, but ya know how that goes. xD Anyway, here's the next chapter guys!  
><strong>

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><p>Jessica was awoken all too early for her tastes by the engine of the car turning over and flaring to life the next morning. She quickly sat up in the seat, rubbing her eyes and blinking sleepily around the car. Frenzy was sticking his head between the two front seats, muttering something to Barricade's holoform in some unknown language while Barricade seemed to be listening intently. She stole a quick glance at the clock; 4:02 am. Brilliant.<p>

"Waz goin' on?" She mumbled sleepily, still rubbing one of her eyes. Frenzy let out a little shriek and fell back in surprise while Barricade just turned to her with a serious look on his face.

"Remember what I told you I was here for?" She shook her head. She couldn't remember anything right now. Her mind was too fogged up with sleep to be of much use to her. Barricade took in a deep breath and began to tell the story over again, keeping his eyes on her instead of the road. "Our planet, our race, was brought to life thanks to the All Spark. We don't know where it came from or how it works; we just know that it can create entire worlds. It started the war that filled our planet with violence and death; some wanted to use the spark for good intentions, while others wanted to use it for their own greedy purposes." He snarled slightly as Frenzy stood up again.

"L-Lord M-Meg-Megatron betrayed h-his b-brother an-and b-became the l-l-leader of th-the Decepticons." Frenzy stuttered, and for once Barricade seemed to tolerate the stuttering bot. "H-He wanted t-t-to use the All S-Spark for h-h-his own reasons."

"Most Decepticons were recruited to his cause against their will." Barricade began again, Frenzy seeming unable to continue. "Frenzy lost his mech and femme creators to Megatron's second in command, Starscream, and I lost both my creators and my sister to Megatron's own servos." His hands balled into fists at his sides, his hands no longer on the steering wheel. He seemed unable to continue, unable to calm himself. Jessica was hit with a pang of sympathy as she looked from both Frenzy to Barricade. Frenzy was staring at the floor board, sitting on the edge of the seat with his small hands clasped together on his lap. He reminded her so much of a child who had gotten scolded, or was under a serious amount of stress. Barricade was tense, hands refusing to uncurl from his sides and she could have sworn his eye was twitching. Frowning, she reached out and put her hand over Barricade's, running her thumb over it to coax the hand out of its ball.

"I...I didn't know that." She said quietly. Barricade's hand uncurled and she began to absently trace patterns on his relatively smooth palm as he continued, his voice sounding strained.

"The cube was soon thrust into space, never to be found again. Megatron followed it, and we haven't heard from him sense his departure from Cybertron. We heard rumors that the All Spark was found here on Earth, and I was sent for the Decepticons to find it before the Autobots, the mechs and femmes that fight for 'good'. That's when you found me." He gave her a slight smile before Frenzy spoke up again and the smile faded.

"I-it took a l-long time to f-f-find it. I-I c-c-ame to help Barricade in his search. I c-c-an hack any computer sy-sy-system put in front of my face." He said the last part with such pride that she couldn't help but smile at the little bot.

"So...I'm guessing that's why we were near Air Force One? You somehow got in it and hacked into their networks?" Frenzy nodded, his chest seeming to puff out in pride. She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head back in surprise. "Wow. That's pretty impressive. Remind me not to make you mad." Frenzy cackled at that and Barricade just smiled slightly and made a noise that sounded like an amused snort.

"Frenzy located a clue to the All Spark while on Air Force One. Though his attempts had been stopped before he could finish downloading all the information he needed, he got enough to know where we can find a pair of glasses that have the coordinates to the All Spark's location imprinted on them." Jessica nodded in understanding.

"So that's where we're going now?" She asked, wanting to get a firm grip on the situation now that she was more awake. Barricade and Frenzy nodded. "Where is it?"

"Conveniently enough, Mission City." Jessica leaned back in her seat with a sigh, rubbing her injured side. It seemed to be doing better; the pain wasn't as intense as it had been a few hours before hand, but she was still in pain. And hungry.

"Good. I need to get home and get something to eat before work." At the mention of work, she groaned. "How am I going to explain my sudden absence to my boss? And how am I going to tell him that my car just happens to be missing?" Barricade just smirked.

"That's simple. You'll remain home." She raised her eyebrows and leaned back against the seat.

"Huh. Why didn't I think of that?"

"B-Because you r-r-rarely th-think." Frenzy snickered from the back seat. Frowning, Jessica grabbed the box that held the half-eaten burger she'd had the day before and threw it at the small mech, giggling when he fell backwards with a shout.

"I like him. He's more fun than you are, 'Cade."

"Y-yeah..'C-C-C-Cade." Frenzy wheezed from the safety the back of the driver's seat provided him. Barricade grit his teeth and gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Don't call me that."

"The f-f-emme already d-d-does." The silver mech said simply. Barricade said nothing, but shot Jessica a look when he heard her snort into her hand.

"What's so funny?" He asked, but the tone of his voice didn't match the fierce look on his face. Jessica just looked up at him, eyes alight with amusement, and shook her head. She didn't know why it was so funny, but just the way the two interacted with each other, you would have thought they were brothers of a sort, not Decepticons that were dragged into a war with one sole purpose; kill the enemy. Barricade leered at the road in front of him, still irked at Frenzy calling him by the nickname Jessica had given him when she was little. "Do not call me that, Frenzy. Ever."

"Wh-whatever you s-say..." The little bot said, getting back onto the seat. "'C-Cade." Jessica burst into laughter at that and Barricade turned his holoform around and tried to grab the small bot behind him. It surprised her that he was able to concentrate on the road and switch lanes to get around a slow-going semi truck with ease.

"What did I just say?" He roared, ignoring the girl laughing in the seat next to him. The whole thing was just too amusing. Before much damage could be done to Frenzy, Jessica's stomach let out a rather loud growl, demanding food. Barricade and Frenzy both turned to her, startled by the sound, Barricade's hands still reaching for the silver mech who was pressed against the seat in an attempt to get away from the holoform.

"Um.." She said awkwardly, shrinking under their gazes. "Oops?" She offered sheepishly as her stomach let out another growl, even louder than the one before. "Guess I need to eat, huh?" Barricade shot Frenzy a warning look and sank back into the seat, getting himself situated again. He turned into the neighboring lane without bothering to look behind him as a large green road sign came into view, the rising sunlight barely revealing its message; it showed a few different recognizable symbols of chain restaurants and a sentence that read "next exit".

"I'm not used to catering to your human needs." He mumbled, turning onto the exit. Jessica scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, looking out the window to hide the smile on her face.

"Well excuse me for being human." She pointed at a familiar sign that showcased a purple bell. "I want Taco Bell." Barricade followed her finger with his eyes and headed for the small establishment, pulling into the parking lot with a flare of his engine. "I'll be quick about it, don't worry. I know you guys have something important to do." She said as she took off her seat belt and pushed the already opened door out of her way. She smiled at Barricade before shutting the door. "Try not to kill each other." Frenzy gave her a quick salute and Barricade just curled his lip at her as she shut the door behind her. She heard Frenzy chuckle as she ran her fingers slowly along the side of the car, using her nails to slightly scratch along the center and sides of the hood as she went inside. She grinned maniacally when she caught sight of Barricade's holoform sitting stiffly in the seat, hands gripping the steering wheel with a strained look on his face.

It didn't take her long to get her food, taking a quick restroom break before grabbing her order and getting back into the car. She hadn't missed much; Frenzy was saying something to Barricade in their native tongue, and judging by the tone of his voice and the look on 'Cade's face he was teasing him about something. She had a waking suspicion it was about earlier when she had run her fingers and nails along his alt form. Deciding the leave the two in silence, she pulled her taco out of the bag and began to add her sauce. She turned to look at the holoform beside her before taking a bite of her taco, curious.

"Why aren't we moving?" Barricade jumped and swallowed harshly while Frenzy cackled madly from beside her, both hands on the head rests of their seats.

"Re...remind me to point out sensitive spots on a Cybertronian later." Barricade wheezed out, his voice just as strained as his appearance. She snickered around her taco, chewing the small bite in her mouth and swallowing quickly so she could speak.

"Touched a nerve, did I?" To her surprise and amusement, he nodded.

"A very..sensitive one." He choked out. Frenzy just chuckled and leaned towards her, careful to avoid the taco in her hand that was dripping lettuce every time she moved it.

"B-Barricade l-likes you." He said in a sing-song voice, and Jessica was surprised that Barricade didn't try to kill him. She studied his face carefully to gauge his reaction to the statement, and was even more surprised to see a small tint of red creeping up to his cheeks as the interior of the car warmed up simultaneously. She swallowed down the half-chewed bite in her mouth roughly, her stomach doing little flip flops.

"Barricade? Is-"

"We need to go." He snapped suddenly, nearly hitting someone as he backed out of the parking lot and headed back for the interstate.

The car was silent for a time, no one bothering to say anything. Frenzy transformed into his alt mode to take a quick nap since Barricade obviously wasn't in the best of moods. Jessica finished the second taco in her bag and sipped her drink slowly, not taking her eyes off of the holoform at her side. He was still tense, and every now and again his tanned cheeks would flush and hot air would blow out of the air vents. This caused a blush of her own to flare to her cheeks, her mind beginning to run in rapid circles. What if he did like her? Did she like him? She hadn't spent that much time with him to be able to tell. What would she say or do if he admitted having any feelings to her right then and now? Groaning in frustration, she banged her head against her window and just stared at the road as it whipped past.

Finally, three hours later, the Mission City limits sign came into view, much to Jessica's relief. She wanted to get out of the car and stretch her legs, take a shower, take care of her injury, something other than sitting in a car filled with awkward silence. The three still remained silent when Barricade pulled into the driveway of her small home and opened the door for her to get out. She took a minute to gather her trash, not really wanting to leave it inside of him in the event that he needed to transform, but that was all the time Barricade needed.

"Jessica." She looked up at him in surprise, hitting her head on the door frame.

"Ow. Yeah?" For a minute they just looked at each other, Jessica confused and Barricade looking torn, and then he sighed, letting his eyes slide shut slowly.

"I'm..." Understanding his difficulty, she sat in the passenger seat and put her face close to his so he would have to look at her.

"Look, 'Cade. If you got something on your mind, just flat out say it." She smiled reassuringly, reaching up to pat his cheek. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it just as quickly. Frowning, Jessica took both of his hands in hers and tried to get him to look her in the eyes. Instead of looking up at her, he'd taken to staring at their hands, his brow creased as he waged an unseen war with himself. "'Cade-" She was suddenly cut off by Frenzy transforming, the little bot seeming to shake with eagerness.

"T-th-th-the boy's location has bee discovered!" He half shouted, causing Jessica to wince at the sheer volume of his voice. He could get pretty high pitched when he wanted to. "We m-must a-act n-now!" Barricade gave him a stiff nod and then turned to Jessica, his features hardened with the concentration of his task. Before he could say anything, Jessica gave his hands a slight squeeze.

"Be careful. Don't hurt the boy, or I'll find a way to hurt you." Barricade just chuckled darkly at her, his eyes flashing with something that Jessica didn't quite catch but hoped never to see again.

"I'm a Decepticon. It's what I do." Frowning, she gathered the garbage into her hands again and stepped out of the car. When the flashing sirens were just little specks in the distance she turned and entered the house, wanting desperately to sleep in her own bed and shower.

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><p><strong>D'awe. 'Twas a bit of a sappy moment it was! But at the last second I decided to put it off for the future. Give their relationship a little bit of a chance to grow before anyone acted on it. Can anyone guess on what Barricade was struggling with? Feel free to take guesses! I want to see what you guys come up with! <strong>

**Remember to review! :D **


	8. Captured

**Alright, so forgive me if this chapter sucks a little. It's going to have a lot of action in it, even though it starts off slowly, and I don't think I'm that good with action scenes. So, please be sure and let me know how I did with those particular scenes, and be honest! Honesty is the best policy! :D**

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><p>Jessica groaned as her bod slowly began to wake up, having fallen asleep on the couch watching t.v. She had been dropped off at her house early enough in the afternoon that she didn't want to fall asleep and mess up what sleeping schedule she still had in her system. She'd showered and put on comfortable clothes, fixed dinner and played around on her computer for a little while. When the sun began to sink low in the sky she decided to watch some television with a bowl of chips. She'd fallen asleep, fatigue hitting her like a ton of bricks and without warning ironically during a Freddy Kruger movie marathon. Her t.v. was now broadcasting a movie into her living room that she didn't recognize, so she grabbed the remote off her lap and turned it off. She stood and attempted to stretch, but hissed in pain as her neck and side protested greatly. She'd almost forgotten completely about her injured side; she'd fallen asleep sitting up, side pressed against one of the arms of the couch, and from the pain that was throbbing in her side she had either rubbed it the wrong way or accidentally pulled off some of the scab. Curious, she removed her shirt right then and there, thanking her lucky stars she was living alone.<p>

When she began to tug at the side of her shirt where she had been shot she jumped and cursed in pain. She had to get the shirt off though so she could clean the small wound, and so, biting her lip to muffle her screams, she grabbed her shirt and promptly yanked it off her body. Her teeth slid off of her lip and she fell to her knees, screaming every profanity in the book as white hot pain seared up her side. Yup, she'd definitely opened the scabs and the blood had dried onto her shirt.

Recovering quickly from the pain, she pulled the shirt over her head, not caring that her extremely messy brown hair was pulled from it's spot on the top of her head, and tossed it down the hall. She'd put it in the hamper later. Right now, her priorities were to take a shower to clean the now bleeding hole in her side and get it cleaned and wrapped. Thank goodness for the First Aid certification class she had taken just 6 months ago.

Once she was out of the shower, she sat down on the toilet and opened the first aid kit she kept in her medicine cabinet. She removed the small alcohol pad from its wrapping with one hand and stuffed a clean sock she had intended to wear that day in her mouth. It did its job well; if she hadn't stuffed it in her mouth before cleaning the wound, her screams would have been heard two houses down, and she wasn't in that tight knit of a neighborhood. Tossing the pad in the small garbage can beside her she reached for the gauze and medical tape and carefully covered the wound. Barricade had done quite the job of removing the bullet from her side and not making the wound worse than what it already was. Finished wrapping her wound, she took the sock out of her mouth and put it on her foot and left the bathroom, flicking the light off as she went. It was time to get something to eat.

While she waited for the water to warm up on the stove for a quick bowl of oatmeal, Jessica turned to look up at the clock to get an idea of what time it was.

"Damn." She whistled lowly, eyebrows raising. "It's already 3 in the afternoon. Talk about over sleeping." She turned to remove the water off the stove as it began to froth and boil. A sudden knock at the door had her sloshing the water all over the counter in surprise. She glared at the offending door and blew some hair out of her eyes with an annoying puff of air. "Who the fuck would be here?" She asked herself incrediously, heading for the door. Checking her hair to make sure it wasn't too crazy [which it was, but she didn't care], she unlocked the front door and swung it wide open. "Look I don't know who...Oh my gosh, Barricade!"

The man that stood before her was certainly Barricade's holoform, but he didn't look too well. When she had left him the day before he hadn't had a hair out of place, his uniform still crisp and flawless, hair gelled back perfectly with a few spikes sitting up, fitting his real self's form perfectly. His skin had been smooth and flawless. Now, his uniform was crumpled and dirty, a few tears here and there revealing some bleeding wounds. He was panting heavily, one of his eyes swollen with a cut directly underneath it. His face was bruised and covered in dirt, but the car sitting in the driveway looked much worse; it looked like it'd had a sledge hammer taken to it and then some. She thought she also seen a bright blue liquid dripping from it in some places at a slow, steady pace with a thickness like blood...

"Don't worry about me." He panted out, waving her off and leaning against the door frame with one hand for support. "This slag happens all the time." He gave her a half smile, as if his injuries were no big deal, but she wasn't having it.

"What the fuck happened? Did you get hit by a semi or something?" He shook his head, laughing lightly as if she'd just told a corny joke.

"Of course not. I'm not the only Cybertronian on Earth. The boy that has the glasses has an Autobot guardian. Fragging scout.." He spat at the ground, and Jessica jumped up in worry; there was blood mixed in it. Even if he wasn't really bleeding and it was just a projection, she was still extremely worried about him.

"Get your butt in here. I ain't leaving you outside looking like that." He laughed again, jerking a thumb back at the car.

"Technically you are." He gave her another short laugh and coughed.

"That's enough of your cheek, mister." She spat, grabbing his shoulders and dragging the holoform inside and slamming the door. "You're going to stay here and I'm going to do my best to take care of you or so help me-"

"You really think those puny fists will hurt me?" He chuckled, eyeing her hands with amusement. His smile disappeared when she sat him down on the couch and slapped him square in the face. His face moved with the blow, a red mark forming on his cheek. Jessica just smiled at his shocked face.

"Yes. Yes I do." She then pointed to the kitchen where she had been before he came in. "Now, you scared the crap out of me and made me spill my water. Clean it up and put more in the pot." Barricade just looked at her like she'd grown three heads. If he was shocked before from the slap...

"You want me to do what?"

"You heard me. I'm not Frenzy, I don't stutter." She looked up then, sniffling slightly. "Where is the little guy, anyway?" Barricade shrugged.

"Dunno. I think he might be with the boy. I was a little too wrapped up in fighting off that stupid scout to pay too much attention to him." Jessica smirked, knowing full well what line she was about to cross.

"That scout must not have been that stupid if he gave you an ass kicking." He glared up at her, catching nothing but amusement in her eyes. Instead of coming up with a good come back to keep the playful argument going, Barricade sighed and looked at the floor.

"I failed my mission. Starscream will be furious with me. I need to...I can't be here..." He made to stand up, but Jessica shoved him back down on the couch.

"Oh no you're not. You're not going anywhere." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared defiantly down at him when he turned his own glare on her. "Look, if Frenzy is with that kid then you don't have to go reporting to him yet, and you didn't fail. Things are just...delayed." She said, using her hands to make wide gestures. She gave him a half smile when his features scrunched together in confusion.

"I suppose you're right. But there's just one problem with that." He said. "Starscream-" Before he could finish the house shook as a deafening explosion nearly took the house off it's foundations. Barricade stood and grabbed Jessica's arm before she could fall down and held her close to his side. "Come on! We have to get out of here!" He shouted above a piercing scream that sounded scarily enough like the jets she used to watch on television during Thunder Over Louisville as a kid. He didn't wait for her to respond; keeping a tight grip on her, he led her through the house, which was starting to heat up with the flames that were currently engulfing her bedroom and out the door. His holoform disappeared when they approached the car and the driver's side door automatically opened for her. She jumped in, squealing as another explosion shook the ground beneath her feet and nearly had Barricade rolling backwards in the driveway.

The instant she was in the seat, the door slammed behind her, the seat belt clicked in place and tightened around her body almost uncomfortably, and they were off, running from something she couldn't quite see.

"Keep your face away from the window." Barricade's voice nearly shouted from the radio.

"What's going on?" She asked in a nearly hysteric voice. He didn't answer at first, and this worried her. "Barricade?"

"That little slagger!" He suddenly roared furiously from the radio. "When I get my servos on him I'll-"

"Barricade, tell me what's going on or so help me I'll kick you!" She raised her foot up to the radio, ready to kick at a moment's notice. The seat belt tightened as if he was squeezing her and she lowered her foot.

"You will do no such thing. We don't have time for silly games." He spat, burning rubber as he fish tailed around the corner. They had just barely passed the street sign for the road they were on when an explosion roared behind them. "Frenzy told Starscream his position. He asked about my location and why I wasn't the one following the boy and retrieving the glasses, and the little slagger told him!" His voice was quivering with rage by the time he was done. "Now he's after me and most likely you!" She dug her fingernails into the leather seat at that, fear causing every one of her muscles to tighten painfully.

"W...Why is he after me..?" Barricade let out a sigh as he parked under a bridge, allowing himself to sink down.

"Because." He began quietly, running a quick scan to find Starscream's location. He was almost right on top of their location, and he hoped and prayed to Primus that the trecherous mech hadn't seen him duck in the abandoned tunnel for cover. He quickly checked to make sure his signal was blocked before speaking again. "Starscream is an egotistical opportunist. He'll do anything to get what he wants. He's not above torture, especially when it comes to a race he doesn't like." Jessica gulped and sank low in the seat as if Starscream could see her.

"But that doesn't answer my question."

"I don't know!" He snapped. Jessica let out a quiet gasp at his outburst, surprised. He sighed and sank lower to the ground. "I don't know." He repeated, quieter. "I suppose...Frenzy told more than he should have, and now Starscream will use you as leverage with either myself to get the glasses or to lure the Autobots to him so he can destroy them."

"What do you think Frenzy told him?" She asked after a minute of silence.

"Too much for my comfort." He grumbled, the car shaking slightly with his anger. "Shh." He soothed when there was a loud bang from above them. A few pebbles hit the roof of the car and Jessica whimpered. She suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her and pull her into a strong chest, one that felt familiar. "Shh." Barricade's holoform whispered into her ear. "He can hear us." She wanted to giggle; his facial hair was tickling her skin, but she kept her lips tightly shut. There was another bang, louder than the one before, and a chunk of concrete hit the ground barely an inch from the hood of the car. Before she could scream Barricade had his hand around her mouth.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered quietly when he removed his hand. He just gave her a squeeze and let his head rest atop of her head as they waited for Starscream to either find them or pass them up. Jessica shivered when Barricade let his finger tips run up and down her arm, letting the side of her head rest in the crook of his neck as her muscles loosened.

Yet another bang shook the tunnel, this time from the side. Jessica bit her lip to keep from screaming and Barricade curled his lip in anger. There was another blast, from the opposite side but closer to the car. Another slab of concrete fell from the ceiling, having been loosened earlier, and slammed down onto the roof of Barricade's alt mode. He quickly pressed her against the seat and used his back for a shield in case the roof caved in. But during this process, he did something he shouldn't have done; he roared in pain. The concrete had actually dented the metal, a jagged edge cutting a hole through the Cybertronian metal.

Silence rang through the tunnel. Barricade and Jessica kept as still as they could, staring at each other and waiting. Waiting to see if Starscream moved on, or if he stayed. Not a single minute had passed before the tunnel quaked and shook around them like never before, rubble falling all over the place. Before either could process what was happening a clawed hand reached down from the quickly crumbling ceiling and pulled the car up like it was a toy, slowly, dramatically, removing them from their hiding place.

"Ah, there you are, Barricade." A sly, sneering voice rang out. Jessica cringed as Barricade clutched her tightly to him, ruby red eyes glaring at something out of the window. "I knew you were in there. Why were you running from me? Did you do something wrong?" The voice chuckled and Jessica nearly hissed in pain when Barricade dug his nails into her back in anger.

"Shut up, slagger." The voice didn't come from the holoform, but from the car itself. She felt the car shake as that annoying, raspy voice laughed at his response.

"Such language! And in front of a femme! I thought you were a gentlemech, Barricade." Starscream cackled a bit before getting back to the subject at hand. Er. Claw. "I grow bored with this." Was all he said as he released the car, sending it plummeting to the ground. The jarring slam of metal meeting the ground had both Barricade and Jessica hitting the ceiling before falling onto each other again, grunting in pain. After looking her over to check for injuries Barricade grabbed both sides of Jessica's face, desperation in his eyes.

"When I open that door, you run." He said. She just started at him, eyes wide with fear and her body trembling. "Don't look back, don't stop. Just run. I'll deal with Starscream." He ran the pad of his thumb over her cheek as a single tear fell from it. "Don't be scared. I promised I'd protect you, and I will. I will not let him hurt you." He held her tightly against him then, giving her a quick hug before placing a fierce kiss on her forehead. "Go. Now. Run. Don't look back. No matter what just run like pit." She nodded against his lips as the holoform disappeared. When the door opened her muscles sprang into action and she flew out of the car. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't know how she was going to hide from the towering triangular Decepticon standing over them, looking almost amused that she thought she could out run him. She didn't know if Barricade could stand up to Starscream or not. All she knew was she had to get out of there and fast.

Before she could get far there was a whirring of metal, signaling that Barricade was transforming, but it stopped when something slammed into the ground, knocking Jessica off her feet. Before she could hit the ground a hand swooped out and caught her. It tightened uncomfortably around her in an almost unbearable, tight grip and she knew then it wasn't Barricade who'd caught her.

"Ah, ah, ah." Starscream tutted, pulling her close to his face. She started into those large, glowing red optics, her body trembling like she was standing outside in a blizzard naked. "Not so fast, little fleshling. I need you for something, and I will not lose you." He glared down at the ground and Jessica followed the look and gasped. The cop car beneath his foot was dented severely, the hole still in the roof from the concrete and the siren lights obliterated. Pieces of metal were sticking out of the car in places normal cars wouldn't have them, suggesting he had been about a third of the way through his transformation before Starscream had stopped him in his tracks.

"Barricade..." She whispered quietly, another tear falling from her eyes.

"I do not know what you were thinking, Barricade, attempting to protect and possibly court a human femme." He snarled, grinding the car into the ground with his foot. Jessica bit her lip to stop the sobs from escaping. "But know this; you will be punished. Perhaps not at this moment, but you will receive punishment for your treachery." With that, he lifted his foot off of Barricade and picked up the crumpled car, which was smoking from under the hood, and clutched it tightly in his other hand. "Now then, who's up for a ride?" Starscream sneered. Without waiting for an answer from either of his captives, he kicked off of the ground and activated his jets, soaring through the air.

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><p><strong>Oh dear. Shit just got real. o.o Ahem. Anyway, excuse the foul language. I cuss like a sailor. My bad. xD How did I do on the actionsuspense scenes? I've never really thought of myselfa s being skilled at these types of scenes in particular, but I could be wrong. I tend to be really really hard on myself when it comes to my writing. -shrugs- What did you guys think? Like I said during the intro of the story, review and lemme know what you think! Ta ta for now! Hope to see you guys next chapter! **


	9. Mission City Battle

**Alrighty now! Chapter 9! I'm glad I have all the reviews that I do. :) I look forward to getting more and more in the future. Your reviews keep me going and make me want to write more and more. Anyway, I don't think you need more encouragement from me to review. I'll leave you all to it! **

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><p>Barricade shook himself as his self-repair mechanism finally kicked in, his systems whirring to life. He was sitting in an abandoned parking garage in his alt mode, making sure he kept himself well out of sight from prying eyes. The leaking energon would definitely be a warning sign that he wasn't a normal car, and he couldn't afford to be discovered at his weakest point. He shivered again, this time in rage.<p>

Starscream.

He was going to murder that fragging mech with his bare servos the second he got the chance. He had dropped Barricade from several hundred feet in the air, not caring if the humans noticed him dropping the police car from high in the atmosphere. He remembered falling to the ground, the pain that racked his body. He remembered the sadistic laughter that had met his audio receptors. But the most prominent sound had been a scream, and not from Barricade or a near by civilian.

"BARRICADE!" Jessica's shout was still echoing through his processor, her voice cracking as if she was putting all her might into the shout. His spark throbbed slightly at the memory of the sound. Frenzy had been right; he was going soft. So soft that the femme he'd promised to protect was in the hands of none other than _Starscream, _and she was most likely going to be tortured for the pleasure of the 'Cons and then used to get the Autobots right where the mech wanted them. Not that he minded their destruction, he just wanted his charge left out of it.

Repairs were complete then, much to his enjoyment. He gave a loud growl and transformed into his bipedal mode, gripping one of the concrete pillars. His claws sank into the hardened substance as he heard Starscream's voice over his comm link.

_**Decepticons. Mobilize. **_

Barricade wasted no time. In a split second he was back into his alt mode and on the road, tires squealing. He had heard the small whimpering of a girl on Starscream's end of the comm link and knew he had to get to the location provided for him by Starscream and quickly.

_**Barricade En Route.**_

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><p>"Let go of me!" Jessica shouted at the top of her lungs, struggling to get out of the cock pit of the fighter jet. She tried pounding her fists against the glass above her, but to no avail. She sat back in the seat and began to kick the glass, and when that didn't work, she kicked the controls that she knew were there just for show. "Let me go!"<p>

"_SILENCE!_" Starscream shouted through a radio that was hidden somewhere. Jessica tried to cover her ears to protect them from the noise but found it useless; her ears had already popped. "Now. Pay attention. You are going to be a good little bargaining chip, aren't you?" He sounded like he was sneering at her and it made her shiver. Those red optics...they were no different than Barricade's but yet they were; his had never had the malice in them that Starscreams' had. She felt she wouldn't be able to look Barricade in his optics anymore...if she ever saw him again. "Fleshling, I'm speaking to you!" She started at that, shaking the thoughts from her head. "You are going to do exactly as I command you when I command you to do it. Got it?" She nodded weakly, tears falling down her face again as she started trembling. Starscream chuckled, and it didn't have the same type of amusement Barricade's had held. "Good."

Without warning Starscream began to transform, flinging her out of his cockpit as he did so. Before she could get too far away for him to catch, he plucked her from the air and held her upside down by her feet.

"Now. Scream." She didn't have to be told twice. Hell, she didn't even need the first bit of encouragement. She screamed at the top of her lungs, people running around below her like little ants. "Ahh...music to my ears." Starscream cackled, shaking her around a little as if he was dangling a worm in front of a bunch of hungry baby birds. "Keep it up, fleshy. You're doing wonderful." He hopped down from the building he had been standing on, Jessica not missing a beat.

"Let her go, Starscream!" A new voice rang out over the screams. Jessica stopped screaming then to look at the owner of the voice, much to Starscreams' irritation. Standing a few feet away was a black and silver mech, but he looked different than Barricade, Starscream and Frenzy. He looked a bit kinder, minus the large cannons sticking out of his arms and aimed right at them. His bright blue optics were glowering furiously at the mech, occasionally shifting down to her and then back up at her captor.

"But what fun would that be, Ironhide?" Starscream drawled, wriggling her around again. "I've come to offer you a deal."

"We're not interested in any deal you have to make, Deceptiscum!" Ironhide growled, his cannons whirring dangerously. "Now put the girl down!" Starscream tutted at him much like he had done with Barricade earlier, taunting the mech.

"I don't think it's in this humans' best interests for you to refuse. My deal is this; hand over the All Spark, and she goes free, unharmed." Ironhide shifted his weight on his large feet uncomfortably, looking from both Jessica to Starscream, and then back at her again. "Time is ticking, Ironhide. I'm beginning to grow bored with her." He let one of her feet go, dangling her as high in the air as he could reach. This caused her to start screaming again. "It's your choice, Autoscum." His fingers began to loosen their grip on her leg, earning him a startled, fear-filled choke from Jessica as she tried desperately to secure herself somehow. "Oops. My fingers are slipping..." He suddenly released his hold on her, watching with glowing red optics in amusement as she fell.

Before she could reach the ground, the one called Ironhide had jumped forward and caught her as someone shot Starscream in the back. Ironhide's grip was firm, but not tight as he held just five feet from the ground. He grunted with the collision, but was otherwise unaffected. Jessica, however, was scared out of her wits. From what she had gathered from Barricade, the Autobots were good. They wouldn't hurt her if their lives depended on it, but she was still terrified. All around her bots were standing up, some looking at her with worry, some focusing on Starscream.

"Gotcha." Ironhide grunted, letting her fall to the ground harmlessly. "Go, get out of the way!" He shooed her away as if she was a fly, and she didn't stand around to wait for him to say much else. She ran for her life, mixing with the the civilians who were running away from the other bots and screaming in terror. A sudden cannon blast had her and the people around her falling down on the side walk. For a moment Jessica thought about not getting up. What good would it do for her to run? She wouldn't be able to find Barricade, and he would have a hard time finding her if he was looking for her somewhere. What part did she play in this, other than an inconvenience? That's when she heard the sob.

She turned her head to look beside her and gasped. There, on the ground, was a mother holding her small daughter in her arms, much like Barricade had done with her when Starscream was attacking them, only the girl was on her lap. Big crocodile tears were falling from the sweet, innocent chocolate brown eyes and the mother was doing everything in her power not to break down right then and there. She raised a shaking hand and placed it atop her daughter's head and kissed her soft forehead, muttering a silent prayer. That's when her years of studying and training to become an officer of the law took over. Quickly Jessica got to her feet and put her hands softly on the woman's shoulders.

"Ma'am, come on, you gotta get up." The woman looked up at her with hazel eyes, a look of terror written across them. "Come on, you gotta get up and get to safety. I'm gonna hep you." Hesitating, the woman stood up, with Jessica's help, and looked at her expectantly. Jessica pointed to a barely visible alley way that lead off of the street, noticing that most of the action was taking place on this one street. "Go down that way! Run!" She gave the woman an encouraging push and ran with her to the alley. "Once you reach the end of this, turn right, then left, then go straight until you get to the third alley on your left and go there. It'll lead you out of the city. Go! now!" She shouted over another cannon blast. She reached a hand out and pressed it against the wall of the neighboring building to keep her balance. She flinched when another cannon blast went off and rubble fell around her. Some pieces of brick hit her, but she didn't care. None of it was going to keep her from trying to get as many people to safety as she could.

And that's what she did. She ran around the city, trying to use her general knowledge to navigate people to safety. Some listened to her without a second thought. Some thanked her and called her an Angel of God. Some were too terrified to listen. She had damn near lost her patience when she ran up to a man standing in the way of a bot that looked like its alt mode was a tank and was taking pictures of it.

"Come on, you have to move!" She shouted, tugging on his shirt sleeve. He snapped a couple of shots and turned to her, a glare on his face.

"Outta the way, lady! I gotta get these shots!" He shoved her to the ground, turning back to take more photos of the bot in front of him. "This will bring me a fortune!" Jessica stood up and began tugging on his arm again as the bot stopped in its tracks, turning its red optics on them.

"Dude, come on, we gotta move! That thing sees us just standing here it'll blow us to shreds!" She shivered at the thought. Barricade had told her once that some of the Decepticons would kill humans without a second thought, and this looked like one of those bots. It raised it's cannon and aimed. Right at them. Jessica could swear she could see the shell on the inside of the weapon. All the blood drained from her body when she heard the whirring. The man she had been trying to get to safety obviously picked up on the noise too and slowly lowered his camera, gaping at the bot in front of them.

"Dude...is it gonna shoot us...?" He whispered to Jessica, not taking his eyes off the bot for an instant. Jessica gulped.

"Without a doubt." She murmured, her voice so low he had to strain to hear it. A near by blast caught the bot's attention, and she wasted no time. She grabbed the guys' shirt sleeve and began tugging at it, and much to her relief he followed her without a single complaint. They ran down the side walk, jumping over and running around rubble and pieces of destroyed cars, sometimes pieces of furniture or other items the building nearby had been showcasing. She took him to a near by alley and directed him down it. "First right, second left, third left, first right, fourth right, first left and you're out of the city limits and into the country. Go! And drop that fragging camera!" She paused momentarily at the word that had come out of her mouth.

Fragging? Must have been hanging around Barricade too long. In fact, he was the only person, er, mech, er, humanoid, that she hung around lately. Mentally shrugging she looked around for more people to help. Finding none, she decided to try and high tail it out of there. As she turned the corner of a street and came onto the back drop of the battle field, she was suddenly stopped by someone grabbing her ankle. She looked down and to her relief, it was only a man who's right leg seemed to be horribly broken.

"Please...help me.." He wheezed. Jessica chewed her lip, weighing her options. Ahead of her was the main part of the battle, and they just happened to be flanking the 'Cons. At any moment one of them could turn around and shoot her into oblivion. On the other hand, this man really needed her help. Who was she to refuse? Technically and legally she couldn't, considering her first aid certification. The man looked no older than 45, and he was obviously in a lot of pain. She didn't take long to weigh her options through.

"Keep still. I'm going to take your shirt off and use it to bind your legs, alright?" The man nodded in understanding, sitting up a little and helping her remove his button up shirt. She ripped it in half with her bare hands and looked around for something to use a splint. She caught sight of two shredded pieces of wood and grabbed those. She propped them up against his leg and ripped the two shirt halves into thirds, then began wrapping the leg as best she could. Makeshift splint finished, she helped him to his feet. "Stay off of that leg as much as you can, alright? I'm going to try and get you somewhere safe." The man nodded again, coughing up what she assumed was dust from the concrete and wood, and began to help him limp in the opposite direction.

She turned the corner and let out a squeak, taken completely by surprise. Barricade slammed on his brakes in front of her and the holoform appeared as the doors opened.

"Here, help me get him out of here. I can't just leave him." Barricade wordlessly helped her get the man into the back seat of the car. Once he was strapped in and secure, he turned to look at her, ruby eyes roaming over her face with obvious worry.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" She shook her head, still trying to catch her breath from all the running and shouting.

"No. He just scared me half to death and nearly dropped me. That's all." Barricade pulled her into a tight, brief hug, letting out what she guessed was a sigh of relief, then let her go and tugged her to the car.

"Come on. We have to get out of here." She gave him a look that read "no duh", but climbed into the passenger seat anyway while his holoform climbed into the driver's seat. He burned rubber as he pulled a U-Turn [Jessica had to chuckle at the bent "No U-Turns" sign near by; she didn't think anyone would care right then, though] and began to drive around people and rubble as cannon blasts shook the ground and gun shots pierced the sky. Just as they were driving around the battle zone, using buildings as their cover, a large, claw hand slapped the side of Barricade's vehicle, sending Jessica and the man flying out of the car and onto the littered pavement. Barricade wasted no time in transforming into his bipedal mode, standing defensively between Starscream and his charge.

"Barricade, how you disappointment me." Starscream drawled, tutting at him like he was scolding a child. Barricade growled lowly at him in response. Jessica looked around her, hoping to find a means of escape or protection in case they started fighting, and noticed that they had caught the attention of the soldiers and the Autobots, who were looking on in confusion.

"I'm sure you'd know all about disappointment, Starscream. I'll bet Megatron wasn't happy to find out you failed him." Starscream growled and kicked a car out of his way as he approached the slightly smaller mech.

"No! It was _you _who failed _him_! Who failed _me_!" He spat, anger obviously rising. Jessica silently ushered the man to his feet and began to help him get away from the scene, using most of her weight to support him as he limped carefully through the debris littered area. "Step aside, Barricade. That insect has taken control of your mind! She prevents you from doing your duty to me, to Lord Megatron!" Barricade snarled dangerously, taking a step backward.

"I assure you, I still have a clear processor, Starscream." He snarled. "Don't you dare come closer." He brought his mace out, swinging it lightly, warningly.

"Why do you bother to protect a _human, _of all the things? You are the best Decepticon seeker we have! Why fight for a race that is puny, weak and meaningless?" Barricade allowed himself a second to look behind him as Jessica helped the injured man onto the sidewalk and towards the Autobots. Across the street where the opposite faction stood a group of human medics were rushing toward them with a gurney, occasionally watching the stand off cautiously. He turned to glare at Starscream, leering at the mech.

"Because they are a strong, resilient race. They may be weak, they may be puny, but they are powerful and capable of more than we and even they know." Starscream chose that moment to attack, but before he could even lay a hand on Barricade he was flung to the side. Without bothering to see who had hit him, he transformed into his jet alt mode and took off into the sky, soon becoming just a memory. Barricade turned and was surprised to see Optimus Prime himself standing before him, regarding him with a look of confusion.

"Did you mean what you said?" He asked, his low, deep voice causing Barricade's chest plates to rattle with the magnitude of it. "About protecting the humans?" Barricade looked out of the corner of his optics again, watching as Jessica helped load the man onto the gurney and watch him get carried away, a look of pride about her. He turned back to Optimus and gave a curt nod.

"Yes." Relief seemed to wash over the taller bot, but he didn't show it much. If Barricade hadn't been watching his facial plates closely he would have missed it.

"Barricade, I do not normally offer this, but I believe after what you said to Starscream, you would be in great danger, as would your charge." Optimus looked to the side and caught a glimpse of Jessica who was standing at a bent street light, watching the two bots warily. "I understand you are a Decepticon, and have been for some time, so I will let you have the choice. You can join with the Autobots, or protect her on your own. The choice is yours." Barricade looked at Optimus, then looked at Jessica. She had obviously heard the conversation, for she was looking at him expectantly.

What now?

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><p><strong>Oh goodness! What's Barricade going to do? D: Honestly, I don't know. Let me know in a review what you want Barricade to do; defect to the Autobots? Or go off on his own with Jessica? Either way I can still have a story off it, but I want to know what you guys think, because I can't choose. xD I'm a horrible decision maker. <strong>


	10. Aftermath

**Well, the results are in for what Barricade is going to do! I took everyone's reasoning and advice into account, and...well, I really hope you guys like what I did! I was really pumped to write this chapter this morning; so much so that it was in my dreams. xD So needless to say, I was pumped to write this chapter, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it! :D  
><strong>

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><p>Barricade looked uneasily at Optimus, unsure of what to do for the first time in a long while. On the one hand, if he were to join the Autobots, he would get his repairs completed. He could feel it in his legs every time he shifted his weight that there was still something wrong, something his internal repairs would not be able to fix on their own. He had issues flexing one of his hands, but it was a subtle issue that could wait years if need be. He would also have extra protection for Jessica; he was sure the Autobots would do anything to protect a human. But on the other hand...his thousands of years of Decepticon training and way of life had him second guessing himself. He was a 'Con, a killer of mechs and humans alike. It wasn't in his nature to be kind to humans, aside from the girl who had touched his spark when she was still a child, and he wasn't the most patient of mechs. He didn't know if he could safely deal with living around humans and fighting against his faction until the end of his days. One thing was for sure, though; Starscream would return, and he would have reinforcements. After his open betrayal, he was fair game. In Decepticon optics, you were either with them or against them. If you were against them in any way, you were killed. No questions asked. No mercy would be shown, despite your past service or your pleas. He looked down at Jessica, who was looking up at him expectantly, her legs beginning to tremble slightly. Venting loudly, he looked at Optimus and gave him a nod.<p>

"I...will join you." He sputtered out, his voice sounding as if he was being tortured. "But, I do have some conditions." Optimus nodded and shifted his weight on his feet.

"I'm listening." Barricade knelt on one knee and held his hand out for Jessica to climb onto, which she did with slight difficulty. Her muscles were giving her a hard time from being over exerted, and now that the adrenaline was gone from her system, the reality of the situation was beginning to hit her like a ton of bricks.

"I am not to be referred to as an Autobot, for starters." He said as he stood once she was secure on his hand. "She is to be protected at all costs. And I wish to remain as her...guardian." Before Optimus could comment on his demands, Ironhide stepped up to them, cautiously stepping around rubble, cars, and bodies.

"How does a Decepticon end up with a human charge?" He snarled, his cannons itching to be brought out. Optimus may have had his guard down around the mech, but Ironhide wasn't about to be blinded. It could be a trap. To all three's surprise, Jessica cleared her throat and stood up, holding on tightly to one of Barricade's fingers as she faced Ironhide.

"When I was a little girl, about 9 years old, I ran away from home. My...dad was abusive, and I seen him hitting my mom. I didn't know what else to do...so I ran. I ended up stumbling across him most likely within a few minutes after he landed on earth. I...I don't know why he chose to protect me. Maybe it's because I was a little kid. Maybe he felt sorry for me." She shrugged. "I'll never know. But from then on, he's protected me." Barricade sighed gratefully when she left out that he had killed her father and her mother. He didn't think the bots would welcome him with open arms after that fact. Not...that he wanted them to.

Ironhide just snorted while Optimus looked impressed. It was easy to see who believed her and who didn't. She just gave them a sheepish smile and scratched the back of her head shyly.

"So...what's going to happen to me?" She asked quietly, looking up at Barricade this time. "I can't go home; Starscream kind of made it explode when he came after us earlier." Optimus answered her, a soft smile on his face plates.

"I do believe I can fix that." He gestured for them to follow, which Ironhide did without a moment's hesitation while Barricade proceeded with caution. He knew the Autobots were nothing like Decepticons and wouldn't ambush him, especially with Jessica in his servos, but he couldn't be too careful. When he stopped, he was surprised to see the boy he had gone after standing in front of Optimus, looking up at him. He looked like slag; his hair was a mess and his clothes were filthy and had holes in them. He was clearly wounded and out of breath. "Sam, I need to ask a favor of you." Sam just nodded, a slight smile on his face...which disappeared almost immediately when he caught sight of Barricade.

"Oh no no no no no, no man, no! What's he doing here! He tried to kill me!" He rushed out, scooting back until he was met with Ratchet's foot. Optimus just held his hand up, silencing the boys' complaints.

"Barricade has decided to remain with us. However, until we can establish a base, his human charge requires a place to stay. Her home was destroyed by Starscream prior to our battle." Barricade lowered his hand to the ground and Jessica stepped off, smiling at the boy. He was younger than her, but he looked nice enough. When he wasn't spazzing out.

"Hi. I'm Jessica." She said sheepishly, holding out a hand. Sam looked at it for a second, but took it after a while.

"Sam." He said, nodding to her and twitching his lips in a weak smile.

"So...giant robots huh?" She said, laughing lightly when Barricade snorted and stood up. Sam looked up at the bot and gave a slight jump, but looked back at her quickly.

"Yeah. Crazy stuff, right?" She snorted and giggled, eyes twinkling with amusement. It felt nice to be able to talk to someone about her predicament. Even though Barricade had only been in her life a considerably brief amount of time, it still sucked to have to keep him a secret. Especially with them becoming close like they were.

"Definitely. How'd you get mixed up in all this?" He gestured to a yellow and black bot who looked considerably younger than the ones around her and strapped to the back of a tow truck. Her heart sunk in sympathy when she noticed his legs were missing and he was letting out sad whirs of pain as a lime green bot she assumed was their medic looked him over.

"Bought a car that turned out to be an alien robot." He shrugged as if it happened every day. "You?" She was the one to shrug this time.

"Meh. Ran away from home when I was little because my dad was a douche bag, came across 'Cade's landing spot." She grinned up at him when he snorted again in irritation. Sam just gaped at her. "What?"

"What did you call him, just now?" She blinked at him, trying to comprehend what he was saying, and gave a slight jump when she finally caught on.

"Oh! Ha, I call him 'Cade. When I was little I had a hard time remembering his name, so I just shortened it to 'Cade. Don't call him that though; he might squish you." She snickered when he gave a low, dangerous warning growl of agreement that had Sam going pale and taking a couple of steps back.

"Yeah I-I-I see that." He stuttered, causing her to giggle again. He sounded almost like Frenzy when he did that. "So." He cleared his throat, catching her attention again. "You, uh, need a place to stay?" She nodded, letting out a small sigh.

"Starscream kind of blew up my house." Sam thought for a minute, before nodding.

"I think my parents will let you stay with me." A black haired girl that was covered from head to toe in dirt but was still somehow managing to be beautiful stepped forward then, having been working on the yellow and black bot behind her.

"Who's staying with you?" She looked from Sam to Jessica, then back at Sam with suspicion. "Sam?" Jessica stepped up then, noticing the discomfort in Sam's eyes.

"Hi, I'm Jessica. You don't gotta worry about me taking him from you if he's your boyfriend or anything like that. I just need a place to stay. See, this giant, ugly metal dorito decided to blow up my house and everything I owned...so." She shrugged, holding out her hand. The girl looked at her for a second then took her hand and shook it.

"I'm Mikeala. I'm Sam's girlfriend." Sam looked at her in shock which she returned with a smile. Jessica blushed and looked away; they looked like they needed some alone time.

"S-so..I'll just...give you two a moment." She cleared her throat and backed up a little. Mikeala giggled.

"Don't worry. It won't last long. We just...have something to discuss." She looked back at Sam and wrapped her arms around his neck as if they weren't standing in a ruined city. Jessica felt her heart sink. They looked so cute together, like they belonged with one another. Would she be able to have that sort of happiness in her situation...? She backed up another step only to find herself running back-first into a familiar chest.

"Going somewhere?" Barricade asked, amusement in his voice. Jessica turned around and smiled slightly at his holoform.

"I didn't hear you transform." He just winked at her and held out a hand.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. I know where he lives, so I'll bring you by there after a moment." She took his hand, and, without saying a thing to the others, she got in the car with him and let him take her out of the city.

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><p>"Any particular reason you took me here, 'Cade?" Jessica asked suspiciously, tearing her eyes away from the gorgeous sunset in front of her to the tanned holoform beside her. She was sitting on the roof with her legs and arms crossed while Barricade was leaning against his alt mode's side, watching the sunset with her. He just looked at her, ruby red eyes glinting in the fading sun light.<p>

"I figured we could use some time alone." He shrugged. "I did almost lose you today." Sighing, Jessica scooted across the hood, giggled when Barricade shivered, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You almost died, too, ya know." He just scoffed. "What? You did." She frowned against the back of his police uniform and gave his waist a squeeze as he placed his hands over hers. They sat like that in silence for a while, watching the giant star falling slowly behind the trees of the park. Barricade eventually cleared his throat, causing her to jump.

"I'm...glad you're not hurt." He said simply, but Jessica knew better. There was something behind that tone of his, something he was being cautious about. Something he obviously wanted to tell her, but wasn't. She let go of him and slid off the roof of the car and made to stand in front of him. She looked at him crossly while he just blinked at her, not knowing what to expect.

"Barricade, you're hiding something. And don't you lie and say you're not. You may not be human, but basic psychology applies to all sentient beings." She gave him a slick smile before settling most of her weight on one hip. "What's on your mind?" That torn look came into his eyes again, his features losing their harshness as he relaxed visibly. Concerned, she stepped up to him and put a hand on his cheek. He looked at her, but quickly looked away, a slight flush coming to his cheeks. She wanted to giggle when she heard the heating unit in the car kick on. So he _was _hiding something. "Barricade, you can tell me. What is-" She was cut off by Barricade crashing his lips against hers, closing the distance between them.

At first neither of the two moved, both too scared and unsure of themselves to make the first move. In the end, Jessica was the one who relaxed first and melted into the kiss, his lips forming over hers perfectly. She couldn't help but shiver at the chills he was sending down her spine with just this one kiss, the way her body reacted to his arms wrapping themselves around her waist and pulling her against him. She broke the kiss too early for his taste, disappointment evident on his face.

"Wow." She whispered, smiling. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked like a shy little girl all over again, the girl he had met in the forest that night. "So...that's what was bothering you?" Her voice was still low, as if she was afraid someone would over hear. Barricade nodded, wanting to badly to lean forward and kiss her again. He wasn't a mech to show affection so often, but the way she looked with her cheeks flushed, the sunlight hitting her brown hair in just the right light, the way her eyes were glittering, he couldn't keep his hands off of her. She let out a sigh and leaned into his chest. For a moment they just stood there, holding one another as the world around them began to grow dark. Occasionally he would stroke her hair or she would run her nails down his back, but essentially they remained stationary, just enjoying the moment. Then-

"Hey Jess!" Sam shouted out. Barricade nearly collapsed against his alt mode, groaning before he disappeared. Jess looked up at Sam, not knowing if she should be looking flustered or surprised to see him. She decided on both.

"Hey, Sam. What are you doing here?" She asked, taking a seat on Barricade's hood. Sam stopped five feet away from the Saleen, his hand in Mikeala's, looking at the car cautiously.

"There was a guy here a minute ago. Where'd he go?" Before she could answer Barricade's holoform reappeared, and he didn't look happy. Jessica snickered when Mikeala gave him the once over and let out a low whistle.

"I'm right here, fleshling." He growled out. "If you do not mind, I would suggest you leave. We were in the middle of something." Mikeala looked at Jessica curiously, to which she just shrugged in response. Sam cleared his throat and looked down at the ground.

"Um, well, see I'm ready to go home and uh, I think she wanted to go with us..." He gestured to himself and Mikeala, who nodded. She smiled at the black-haired girl as Barricade simply grunted.

"Go. We'll follow." Sam didn't need to be told twice and was soon tugging Mikeala away from his previous enemy and his charge. Mikeala looked over her shoulder just as Barricade was pulling her into a hug and kissing her. She could have swore the girl winked at her before turning back around and following Sam back to a yellow and black car near by that she guessed was the bot that had been legless when she seen him. Grinning against his tanned lips Jessica put a little force into the kiss and pulled away, obviously taking him by surprise.

"So I'm guessing Frenzy was right?" A blush and the heating system flicking on was the only response she got.

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><p><strong>Mkay, so I hope you guys liked this chapter! I think it's a little shorter than the others...but. And they finally admitted it! :D I got tired of skipping around their feelings and finally decided to make 'em just kiss each other and get it over with. But I will go ahead and say that their romantic moments will be few and far between for certain reasons, some of them being he's not comfortable showing affection around others, Barricade is still Barricade, and they'll both be kept busy. Anyway, review! <strong>


	11. Fight

**So I honestly get a feeling that no one really enjoyed Chapter 10 as much as I thought they would. It might just be me not being that happy with it but...yeah. Anyway. In this chapter there will probably be some fluff, a little randomness because of Sam's mom, answers to where Frenzy ran off to, and some tension between Bee and Barricade. ^.^ Enjoy!**

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><p>Jessica got out of Barricade once they were in the driveway and shut the door behind her, looking up at the house with interest as Sam walked up to her. It was a two story house and looked really roomy. The front yard was stunningly beautiful; everything looked picture perfect. She tore her gaze off the house when Sam cleared his throat, obviously a little jumpy still about being around Barricade.<p>

"So, this is it." He gestured to the house while rubbing the back of his neck. Jessica noticed the way he kept his eyes on Barricade at all times and smirked. He would probably be that way for quite a while. To ease his mind, she leaned back and put her hand on the hood.

"I like it. It looks really nice, Sam." She gave him a reassuring smile and then looked back up at the house, nerves beginning to pile up in her stomach. "You're sure your mom doesn't mind me staying here until the Autobots get their base running?" Sam nodded as a curtain billowed in what she guessed was the living room window. Someone must be watching them.

"Yeah. I called her on the way here. She didn't mind at all, especially when I told you about your house. They know about the bots, too. The military called them and explained everything." Jessica nodded and turned to Barricade, giving his hood a pat.

"Alright, 'Cade. I'm gonna go inside and get things situated. Behave." She said the last part sternly, pointing at his windshield. The window rolled down so she could hear his voice clearly.

"No promises." She gave the front tire a playful kick before following Sam along the side walk and into the back yard. She made to step on the grass, but was stopped by Sam grabbing a hold of her arm.

"No no no no! Watch the path, watch the path!" He spazzed, making sure he carefully stepped on the squares of stone strategically placed. "Guess dad got it replaced after Optimus trashed it." Jessica had a hard time believing that big guy had been in his back yard, stomping around, but she lost all doubts in her mind when she noticed a giant foot print that she guessed belonged to one of the bots with a bag of mulch and grass seed beside it.

"He trashed your yard?" She asked, balancing on one foot skillfully and treating the stepping stones like a game of hop scotch. She laughed when she noticed Sam doing the same thing, hopping from one stone to the other on one foot as he made his way up to the porch. "Mind telling me what a 30 something foot robot was doing in your backyard?" Sam gave a nervous laugh, hopping onto the porch with ease and holding his hands up like he had just scored a touch down.

"They were looking for the glasses that had information about the All Spark on 'em. They were my great grandfather's, so it makes sense that I had them. They got impatient when I told them to wait for me so they started stomping around." Jessica scoffed as she followed Sam's lead and hopped onto the porch, grabbing his shirt when she began to teeter.

"The big guy doesn't seem like the 'stomping type'." She said, voice wavering as she began to lose her balance. "Oh shit!" She squeaked, falling onto the path she had just hopped across. She let out a groan and puff of air as Sam collapsed on top of her. Guess he decided to join her. The back screen door opened with a click, revealing a slightly chubby, balding man who looked to be in about his late thirties. He looked down at the two in disbelief.

"Sam, what are you doing on the ground? With a girl that's not Mikeala under you?" Jessica was quick in pushing him off of her and standing up, making sure she stayed on the path. "At least you two stayed on my path." He said distantly, eyes roaming over the yard. His eyes hovered over the foot print that hadn't been covered yet and he shuddered, then turned his eyes on Jessica. "Is that your police car in the drive way?" She nodded, blushing slightly.

"Yes sir." She mumbled, suddenly going all shy. If she wanted to live with them, she wanted to make sure she was on his good side. When she looked up she noticed he was looking at her with disbelief.

"Mind if I take a look at it?" She shook her head, showing she didn't mind, and proceeded to hop along the path. "Sam, go inside and help your mother finish cleaning out the guest room." Sam said something as he went into the house, but Jessica didn't quite catch it. She was too busy hopping along the path, thinking to herself it'd be easier if she weren't barefoot and sore, to really care. When they got to the drive way she tip toed around the gravel, picking and choosing the spots where she stepped. She hated walking barefoot across small rocks. Sam's dad whistled appreciatively behind her as she approached the car, hopping onto the hood and giving it a pat.

"I guess that means you like him?" He nodded, going to circle the car. He stopped, however, when he picked up just what she had said.

"Him? So...I'm guessing this is one of those robots that can turn into cars I was told about?" He asked in a low voice, looking around suspiciously. Jessica snickered; he looked like a druggy asking her if she had "the goods".

"Yup." She gave him another pat. "His name is Barricade, but I call him 'Cade." The engine revved under her suddenly, scaring her off the hood. It was a low sound, nothing too loud or frightening, but it was enough to get his point across. "He doesn't like being called 'Cade by anyone but me." She grinned sheepishly, giving the Saleen a chiding look.

"Huh. I see." He began to circle the car again, stopping once more at the tail end. "To punish and enslave..." He pronounced slowly. The car shook slightly in what Jessica guessed was laughter.

"Uh yeah...see, he was...is...I don't know what the hell he is now, but he was a Decepticon when I met him." Sam's dad looked up at her, visibly paling.

"That's...the bad guys, right?" He asked slowly. She nodded cautiously, keeping her eyes on him to gauge his reaction.

"I met him when I was a little kid. I kind of stumbled upon him after he crash landed on Earth. He's been a protector ever since." She gave the car a smile and an affectionate pat, one that Mr. Witwicky didn't miss.

"You're close to him, aren't you?" She looked up at him, almost as if she didn't realize he was still there, and nodded.

"Yeah. I guess you could say that." She said with a blush. The quiet moment was interrupted when he reached out to touch the tail end of the car; the engine roared then, and this one wasn't just a simple warning-it was an angry sound. Mr. Witwicky jumped back in surprise, hands in the air. "He...doesn't like being touched..."

"You touched him just fine!" He shouted, keeping his hands in the air and backing away from the car. The air around them crackled with energy as Barricade's holoform appeared, and he didn't look happy. "Woah!" Ron fell back on his rear, surprised that someone appeared out of thin air.

"Barricade..." Jessica warned, reaching out to grab his wrist. Barricade just snarled and jerked his hand away from her.

"I may not be a Decepticon anymore, but I still don't like fleshbags touching me." Jessica looked down at the ground, hurt by her guardians' words. The car in front of them whirred angrily, as if it was trying to warn Barricade to watch his step. Jessica attempted to reach out to Barricade again to pull him back but he gave her a push, sending her falling to the ground.

"Do you feel like a man when you push her around?" The radio from the Commarro blared, the engine roaring. Barricade turned on his heal, not bothering to look down at Jessica.

"Shut up, slagging scout." He snarled. The car whirled and clicked angrily at him, to which he responded by speaking in the similar language. The two argued back and forth in their native tongue for a while before Barricade's holoform faded, engine turning over angrily along side of the Commarro's. Sam came running out of the house as his dad fell onto the yard, the three humans watching the cars back out of the drive way and race down the street, driverless.

"What the hell? What happened to Bee?" Sam asked, looking between the two of them curiously. "What happened to Barricade? Where are the going?" Mr. Witwicky just shook his head and Jessica just sat on the ground, watching the two racing cars drive off into the distance.

"I'm not sure." She said slowly, struggling to get on to her sore feet. "But I got a feeling it's not going to end well." Sam looked around panickedly for a moment before putting his hands on his head and letting out a groan.

"They're supposed to be getting along! What happened to piss 'em off, anyway?" Jessica shrugged.

"Dunno. Barricade got mad at your dad because he touched him. He doesn't like being touched by anyone but me apparently. Then when I tried to calm him down he pushed me and then Bee-"

"Wait wait wait, he pushed you?" Sam asked, a look of concern in his eyes. "Why did he push you?"

"I don't know!" She shouted, raising her hands in the air. "I don't know, Sam! Anyway, they started yelling at each other in their own language and took off!" Sam looked in the direction the two cars had driven off in and suddenly jumped up.

"Hold on. We're gonna follow 'em. Make sure they don't get into trouble." He ran into the shed as his dad headed to the back yard, shaking his head and mumbling something about "smart cars" and "the end of him". Sam came out of the shed as his dad went back into the house toting two bikes, one of them being pink and frilly with a little pillow on the seat. "Here. This is my mom's bike. Make sure nothing happens to it." He handed it off to her as he mounted his own and began pedaling off. Jessica was quick to mount the pink bike and take off after him, head swirling with thoughts and feet throbbing. They could only take so much abuse.

They biked around town for a while, trying to find signs of the two cars anywhere. They rode up one street and down the other, both panting heavilly from exertion. Sam shouted something to her from the other side of the road about heading to a secluded place where no one could see them and the two began trecking towards any place they could think of that would be out of plain sight. They checked the park, but came out empty handed. They looked around abandoned parking garages, but had no luck. Finally they reached the outskirts of town after about two hours, the sun having long since gone down.

"This is going to take forever!" Jessica panted, leaning over the bike handle bars on the side walk. Sam looked equally exhausted, leaning over his own bike handles and wheezing heavily, trying to catch his breath.

"I know! Maybe we should head back?" She shook her head and began pedaling away in the opposite direction, slower than before. She was going to find him if it killed her.

She didn't have to go far to find him. As they were biking past the park they caught sight of a blur of yellow before the ground shook beneath them, knocking them off their bikes. Jessica landed with her temporary bike on top of her, pedal digging into her injured side that had just begun to heal.

"Fuck! If it's not one thing it's another!" She shouted angrily, pushing the bike off of her and standing up. "I'm going to kill him!" She shouted to no one in particular, stomping off into the park. Sam hurriedly got off the ground and ran after her, hoping she didn't really mean it. She couldn't possibly take on a robot 5 times her size and expect to live, did she? He shook his head. He hoped she wasn't that stupid.

When they got to the center of the park, they both visibly flinched. The ground was in shambles, the playground broken apart like it had been made of tooth picks and play dough. Barricade was on the ground beside a fallen tree, Bumblebee standing on top of him with his cannon pointed at the mech's face. Barricade shouted something that sounded rather dirty at him in their own language and knocked the yellow bot's feet from under him and shot up onto his own two feet, giving Bee a quick kick in the side.

"Hey!" Sam shouted, waving his arms back and forth to get their attention. "Stop! Stop it before you guys are caught! You're supposed to be getting along!"

"Barricade!" Jessica shouted, mimicking Sam's arm movements. "Stop it!" Neither of the bots seemed to hear their charges, as the fight continued. Bee knocked Barricade into the playground again as the two humans approached the scene. He swung his arm to smack Barricade across the face, unable to get a punch in, and was suddenly flipped onto his own back, door wings pressing into the sand and earth. He let out a loud whir of pain and his blue optics faded, almost as if he were wincing in pain. Those door wings must have been really sensitive. Barricade pulled out his made and swung, effectively hitting Bee square in the face. What he didn't notice, however, was a wooden beam that had acted as support for the swing sweat came loose and flew through the air, knocking Jessica and Sam to their feet as they collided with one another. Their cries of pain stopped the fight, both mechs at full attention.

Sam lay on the ground with the edge of the beam on top of one of his legs, but he didn't seem to be too phased; just a little dizzy. Jessica had it worse; she was under the beam, which was laying diagonally across her chest and upper stomach, and her eyes were closed. Bee made a noise of concern as he got to his feet and ran to them, eager to help his charge and his friend. Barricade just stared blankly at the scene before him, unsure of what to do. Did he try to help? Did he sit back and let Bumblebee do all the work and take credit for it? When his optics landed on her slack face, her eyes closed shut as if she had been knocked out, he made his decision. He was quick to shove Bumblebee aside and lift the beam from the two, tossing it into the trees.

"Jessica." He said urgently, nudging her side with his metal finger. "Jessica, wake up!" Bumblebee used his own fingers to help his charge to his feet before turning on Jessica, eyes softening in concern.

"Oh! A one hit K.O.!" His radio rang out, though his expression didn't match the voice. Sam got on his knees beside her and gave her a shake.

"Jessica, come on you gotta get up. Come on!" He shook her again, trying to be gentle in case she was severely hurt. To his surprise she coughed harshly and sat up slowly, eyes squeezed shut in pain.

"Fuck...that hurt." She groaned, clutching her side. Opening her eyes, she noticed that Barricade was the first thing she seen. He looked concerned, shocked, and angry. Not with her, of course, but with himself. How could he hurt the one person he had sworn to protect? His shoulders slumped and he hung his head low, disappointed in himself. He...had failed her. "'Cade..." she murmured, getting to her feet and ignoring Sam's protests. She patted his large arm to get his attention and looked directly in his optics, understanding why he was upset. "It was an accident...you didn't-"

"I failed you, Jessica." He mumbled sadly, looking at the ground. Primus, how could she make him so weak? His cooling system kicked in as he remembered how she had touched his hood the day before, how she looked when she laughed or when she was asleep, how good it felt to hold her, to _kiss _her...

_That's why. _He thought miserably to himself, sinking down lower. Reaching up on her tiptoes, Jessica patted his great metal cheek in comfort.

"Come on, big guy. Let's get back. It's dark and I need a shower and to get in bed." He nodded and transformed without a word into his alt mode, Bumblebee following closely behind. As he pulled out of the now destroyed park, Barricade put the seat belt around her beaten frame, turned on the air conditioner to keep her cool as her body temperature had been rising, and leaned the driver's seat back as his holoform appeared beside her. They didn't say a word to each other; they both just rode in a tense silence back to Sam's house. It wasn't until they pulled into the driveway that either spoke.

"Jessica..." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as Sam got out of Bumblebee in front of them. "I'm...I'm sorry." Jessica didn't say a word, just stared out the window at the house. He sighed again and reached out to grab her hand, which she ripped out of his grip much like he had her wrist earlier.

"Doesn't feel good, does it?" She sneered when she seen the hurt look in his eyes. It was her turn to sigh as she grabbed his hand. "I know, Barricade. But can't you at least _try _to be nice?" She was interrupted by a knock on the window. "What?" She groaned, whirling to look at Sam as Barricade rolled her window down.

"Um...you comin' in? My mom's got dinner ready and she can't wait to meet you. And you sorta need a shower. You stink." She snorted and gave him a playful shove.

"Yeah, I'll be in in a sec. 'Cade and I gotta talk about something first." He nodded, gave Barricade one last look of caution and proceeded for the back yard. Jessica waited for him to disappear around the house completely, snorting when he stopped and shouted something about forgetting the bikes, then stomped off toward the back door. She let out a huff of air and positioned herself comfortably before leaning against Barricade's holoform. He froze for a moment, unsure of what to do next, but eventually let his arms snake around her waist and pull her to his chest. She smiled when he laced his fingers in between hers and let his chin rest on her shoulder.

"I really am sorry about earlier. I...didn't mean to hit you." She giggled when he kissed her neck, feeling him smile against her skin.

"I know you are, 'Cade. I...I guess I shouldn't expect you to get over years and years of being a Decepticon and suddenly go all nice and get along with everyone." She gave him a playful nudge when he scoffed. "But for now, can you at least _try _to play nice with Bee? You guys are kinda stuck in the same driveway as each other and will be for a while..." Barricade thought about her words for a moment before letting out a half-sigh, half-groan.

"No promises, but I can attempt to get along with the scout." He gave her a kiss on the cheek before nuzzling against her neck again. "Samuel is right. You do need a shower." Jessica let out a playful gasp and slapped his hand, leaning away from him.

"Barricade!" He laughed at her reaction, an easy, relaxed laugh that was contagious and shook the car. He reveled in the sound; it felt good to be at ease. He hadn't laughed like that in years. Jessica wiped her eyes as a tear of laughter fell down her cheek and gave him a kiss. "You really have issues." He kissed her back, pulling her tightly against him.

"I know this." He mumbled before kissing her again. She moaned quietly against his lips when he began to trace patterns on her lower back. He took advantage of the gasp she let out when he sunk his nails into her skin and pushed his tongue into her mouth, exploring every nook and curve it had to offer him before caressing her tongue gently. She groaned and pulled away from him, panting heavily and running her fingers through his short, now messy black hair.

"I don't think we should...not right now.." She panted. He gave her a half-smile and patted her lower back.

"Soon." He chuckled at her blush and kissed her dirty cheek. "Go inside. You need to eat, bathe and sleep." She yawned and stretched at the word "sleep", and he opened the door behind her. "I'll be here if you need me." She smiled and patted his hand before getting out of the car.

"Good night, Barricade. And remember, you'd better get along with Bee or I'll disassemble you in your sleep." He rolled his ruby red eyes and scoffed at her. As if her puny hands could do anything to his superior systems.

"Fine, fine." He waved her off. "Good night." She smiled and shut the door behind her, heading up to the house. Barricade let out a sigh and allowed his holoform to disappear, sinking on his axles before falling into recharge.

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><p><strong>Okay, so I was going to have her meet Sam's mom in this chapter, but I kind of didn't think it would fit here. I'll definitely put it in the next chapter! :D Review and lemme know what you think!<strong>


	12. Past Revealed

Before she could even think about getting anything to eat, Jessica had to have a shower. After making sure Barricade had relaxed a little, as she didn't want to find out he'd been pummeling Bumblebee again, she stepped carefully into the house, hissing when her feet touched the wet floor. They must have been banged up pretty bad if it hurt to step on a freshly mopped floor.

"So, you must be Jessica!" A kind voice alerted her of another woman's presence and she jumped. Standing in front of her was a pretty older woman with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She had on a baby blue button up blouse that was tucked into a white skirt that came down to her knees. Despite being in the house, she also wore a pair of tan flip flops with a candy apple red thong. "Sam said you were coming to stay with us for a while." She smiled and nodded to the woman.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, Mrs. Witwicky. I really appreciate it." The woman smiled and waved her off good naturedly.

"Oh it was nothing, dear! When Sammy told us what happened to your house I couldn't just let you sleep on the streets! Oh, and call me Judy. Mrs. Witwicky makes me sound old." She gave a good natured laugh and Jessica laughed with her. She seemed like a friendly, bright woman; maybe her stay wouldn't be so uncomfortable after all. She'd been worrying about it all the way to the house.

"But still, thank you, Judy, for letting me stay with you. I'll try not to be any trouble, I promise." Sam walked by her then, hair wet and wearing nothing but a tank top and basketball shorts. He was carrying a soda can in his hand, which he opened grumpily.

"You may not be any trouble, but Barricade sure will be." Judy turned to look at her sun, then looked at Jessica.

"Barricade?" She made a face that displayed her confusion easily. "Who's Barricade?" Jessica opened her mouth to try to explain in a way that wouldn't scare the poor, unsuspecting woman, but Sam had to go and open his big mouth again.

"He's one of the bad guys supposedly turned good. He's Jessica's guardian." Jessica watched his mother's face relax as she stood up straight, trying to process what her son had just told her. She prepared to turn around and leave at a minute's notice; she didn't think the kind woman would want to have one of the bots that tried to kill her sun sitting in the driveway. "He's already pummeled Bumblebee pretty good." Jessica glared at him over his mom's shoulder. Way to go, Sam.

"He didn't hurt you, did he, sweetie?" Judy said, immediately grabbing her face and looking her over. "My God, you're filthy!" Jessica giggled and tried to squirm out of her hands.

"I'm fine! He didn't hurt me. I don't think he'd ever do it on purpose." She tried to ignore the pointed look Sam gave her. "And I'm dirty and sore and tired and hungry and a bunch of other emotions I can't even describe. I was shot the other day, taken who knows where because Barricade had a sort of mission to do and he couldn't just leave me there to die. I get home and he's all banged up. One of the Decepticons tried to kill me and ended up blowing up my house and kidnapping me. I nearly fell to my doom when he dropped me, and if weren't for Ironhide I wouldn't be standing here right now. I ran around a city that was practically exploding trying to get as many people out as I could, and I was nearly flattened by a swing set!" She gasped, taking in a deep breath at the end of her rant. "So yeah, I'm gonna feel and look like crap!" She threw her hands in the air, exasperated. Judy gave the girl a sympathetic look and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh sweetie, it's okay. Run along upstairs and get a shower. Sammy will show you where it is. I'll bring you some clean clothes Mikeala dropped off earlier for you to wear and you can have some dinner and go to bed. Go on now!" Judy gave her a playful shove as she followed Sam up the stairs.

"Good going, Sammy." She said, emphasizing the nickname. "Your mother almost practically threw me out the door when you mentioned Barricade used to be one of the bad guys."

"And how do you know he isn't just lying to you?" He retorted, pointing out the spare bathroom on the top floor. "That's the bathroom." He pointed to a white door with stickers all over it at the end of the hall near by. "That's my room." He pointed to the door on the other side of the bathroom. "That's your room. Good night." And with that he went into his room without another word to her. Huffing, Jessica stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door, nearly locking it before she remembered Judy would be bringing her a fresh set of clothes. When she was naked and in the shower, there was a soft knock at the door.

"I'm coming in, dear! I'm leaving the clothes on the sink for you. I hope you like roast beef!" She called over the noise of the water running.

"Yeah, I love it!" Jessica called back, massaging shampoo into her hair and groaning at the sensation.

"Alright, well let me know if you need anything else!" And with that she shut the door and went down stairs to clean up her and her husband's left overs. When her foot steps died away, Jessica stopped all movement, just standing under the shower water. Something didn't feel right. She didn't feel like she was in any danger or that something bad was going to happen...just that something felt off. She tried to shrug it off as she scrubbed her sore and tired body, flinching at the bright purple bruise that was forming on her midsection and hissing in pain when she scrubbed the cracked and bleeding bottoms of her feet, but she found that she couldn't. Something just didn't feel right to her.

When she was finished and dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a plain white t-shirt and fresh undergarments, she went downstairs to grab something to eat. She eagerly stacked her plate up with food and went to sit at the kitchen table when Judy popped her head around the corner of the door.

"Oh don't eat by yourself, silly! Come in here and sit with us! We wanna get to know you better!" Jessica smiled and took her hand off the back of the chair she was about to pull out and followed Judy into the living room.

"Are you done pestering the poor kid?" Ron asked, not taking his eyes off the t.v. as the two women entered the room.

"Oh be quiet, you." Judy slapped her husband's arm before taking a seat on the couch, patting the empty space between her and the arm rest. "Well don't be shy, sit down!" Jessica did as she was told and began digging in. They were quiet for a while, just enjoying H.O.U.S.E. when Ron broke the silence during a commerical.

"So, you said your house blew up?" Jessica nodded, swallowing the bit of beef she had been chewing thoughtfully for the past minute.

"Yeah. The..well, I guess he'd be considered the leader now...but anyway the leader of the Decepticons blew up my house. Barricade got me out of there before I got hurt. He couldn't keep me away from Starscream, though. The little piece of crap was too quick."She shuddered, remembering how it felt to be dangling by her leg over 20 feet off the ground.

"What about your parents? Why can't you go stay with them?" Jessica froze mid-stab, looking blankly at the wall beneath the t.v. Her heart began to throb and her eyes began to prickle with tears as her brain made her re-live the night of their death; the way Barricade had easily trapped him under his hand, the sickening noise he had made when Barricade squished him, the way her mother looked when she moved all that wood...

"They're dead." She said in a hollow, crackling voice. "I've...been in foster care since I was 9 years old. I was in three different homes, each set of foster parents not giving a crap about me or not having the time for a kid." She let her fork fall onto the plate with a clink, appetite suddenly gone. "That's...that's why I asked if I could stay here. I hate my last set of foster parents. They told me once I turned 18 and was out of the system I was on my own, whether I was in high school or not. Thankfully I graduated a month before my 18th birthday, and as you can guess when my birthday came around I was in college, shacking up with a friend. After that I went to the police academy, then I moved here to Mission City for a job." She laughed suddenly, but it had no humor in it. "That's when I found Barricade again. After my parents died, I...I told him to leave. He...he'd killed my father because he was trying to kill me." Judy gave a gasp and covered her hands with her mouth. Ron just stared at her in shock.

"Goodness, why was he trying to kill you?" She whispered, staring intently at the girl with tears of sympathy welling up in her eyes. Jessica swallowed and continued.

"The night I met Barricade...I'd seen him hit my mom. I'd seen him do it before, but he never caught me. When he seen me I ran. I ran as fast and as far away as I could until I couldn't anymore. That's when I found Barricade. I don't know what got him to want to protect me; he was a Decepticon, a bad guy, a cold-blooded killer. But for some reason that I can not fathom, he promised he would protect me from my dad. A week later, he got out of prison for good behavior. He came back home with a vengance. He tried to kill my mom, but then I tried to stop him and he realized that it was my fault he had gone to jail. If I hadn't of run away that night, my mom would have never called the police. They would have never noticed she was buried and beaten. They would have never taken him to jail."She took a deep, shaky breath, but refused to let the tears in her eyes fall. She hadn't cried since that night, and she wasn't going to start now.

"Then...then Barricade came. Like he promised. He had to tear off half the roof of our house to get to me. Once he was sure I was safe, he killed my dad. He...squished him. By that time, I realized I hadn't seen my mom since Barricade showed up. I...I went to find her...and..." She let out a sob against her will, her eyes unable to hold the tears any longer.

She didn't have to say another word. Judy immediately engulfed the girl with affection, hugging her tightly in a motherly fashion against her chest and rubbing her back as the sobs became more frequent.

"I'm so sorry.." Was all she said. Ron reached out and awkwardly patted her head, sniffling a little himself. Jessica just sniffled and gave Judy a squeeze before letting her go.

"It's..no big deal." She gave her a half smile as she tried to wipe her eyes, but to no avail. Dammit. She'd promised herself she wouldn't cry. "I'm...I'm gonna go for a walk." She got up from the couch and headed outside, shutting the screen door quietly behind her. She already knew where she was going, so she didn't look up from the ground during her march from the back door to Barricade. He awoke from recharge when she got inside his alt mode and shut the door behind her. He was about to ask what she was doing when he heard her sniffle. She drew her legs up to her chest, sniffling and letting the tears fall freely now.

"I did it." She sniffled, rubbing her right eye furiously. "I told them about my parents." Barricade's holoform appeared beside her, drawing her into a tight hug of comfort. She unfurled her body and held on to him tightly, as if he was the only thing holding her together. She wouldn't be surprised if he was. Fisting his shirt tightly, she let the flood gates go, her body shaking almost painfully with her sobs. Barricade just held her, stroking her hair. He didn't care that he was once again showing weakness by being soft. He didn't care that she was leaking fluids again onto his shirt and it felt uncomfortable, or that she was a sniffling mess of snot. All he cared about was comforting her, and he wouldn't be distracted. Not even when Bee gave a curious, sleepy warble in front of him.

It wasn't long before she'd fallen asleep, still clinging to Barricade for dear life. Without a sound he pressed his lips against her forehead and gathered her in his arms. He ignored Bee's questions from the radio of his alt mode, ignored the walk way Sam and Ron seemed to be so obsessed over. He opened the screen door with one hand, carefully balancing her against him, and carried her inside. Judy met him in the kitchen, stunned that there was a man in her house.

"Who are y-"

"Where is her room? I do not want her to sleep in me tonight." Ron came in the room then, assessing the situation. He immediately recognized the tan man standing in his kitchen and pointed to the stairs.

"Top floor, first door on the right." Barricade nodded to him and proceeded up the stairs. He once again ignored the questions fired at him when he reached his destination, this time by a confused Sam, as he carried her over to the bed and peeled the blankets back before laying her down. Before he could cover her up she awoke, reaching out to grab his shirt.

"Don't leave." She croaked, throat still closed painfully with her sorrow. He didn't hesitate to climb on top of the bed, wrapping her in the blanket before drawing her into his arms.

"Sleep. You need it." He murmured into her ear, moving a strand of hair from her face. She hiccuped and coughed, then turned to look at him.

"'Cade..."

"Mm?"

"...Thank you." He pressed their foreheads together and wound his fingers in her hair.

"I promised I would protect you. I may not be able to take the pain of the past away...but I can promise to be here to comfort you." She gave a slight laugh at that.

"Some Decepticon you turned out to be." It was his turn to laugh, but he didn't say anything. She buried her face in his neck and gave a slight sigh before kissing the smooth, tanned skin there. "Good night." As she drifted off to sleep, she was vaguely aware of him kissing her forehead and stroking her hair again.

"Good night."

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><p>"Slagging 'Con, hold still!" Someone shouted, waking Jessica with a start. She shot up in bed, still tangled in her blankets, and proceeded to fall onto the floor face first. Groaning with both agitation and fatigue, she looked up at the digital alarm clock on her bed side table. The red numbers "1:32 pm" leered at her and she sighed. She certainly didn't feel like she'd slept well into the afternoon. Yawning, she stood up and looked around. Barricade had obviously left her after she'd fallen asleep, but she didn't mind. There was a pair of dark blue denim shorts that looked to die for and a pastel yellow blouse sitting on the table beside the clock with a little note beside it, a white belt with pink accents and the corners of grass-green tennis shoes holding down a folded up piece of paper. She plucked it off the table and unfolded it, reading the tidy, girly scrawl written on it.<p>

_Jessica, _

_Sam told me you might need some new clothes, so, here you are! Judy and I are going to take you shopping when you wake up. _

_Don't freak out if you hear a lot of banging and shouting. _

_The Autobots are coming to get comfortable while N.E.S.T. gets going and Ratchet said he might need to check on Barricade. _

_Stop reading this and take your shower so we can go already!_

_-Mikeala B._

She smirked at the last part as a loud "clink!" from outside reached her ears. Sounds like the Autobot's medic was having fun with Barricade. Still smiling, she gathered the clothes, picked the socks up off the floor when she dropped them and headed for the shower.

Once she was clean again, she went outside with a q-tip in her ear, stopping at the trash cans beside the door to toss it aside before looking upon the scene before her. Barricade was lying on the ground looking irritated and a lime green bot she guessed was the medic was crouched over him, careful to remain out of site in the backyard. A blue semi with red and yellow flames Jessica guessed was Optimus was sitting near by, obviously watching the scene carefully should he need to stand in. Bumblebee was laying on his back staring up at the sky without a care in the world while Ron watched from a lawn chair, sipping a glass of iced tea. Sam was walking towards Bee and saying something while Judy and Mikeala talked about something that obviously had Sam losing interest.

"Jessica! Hey!" Judy waved, suddenly catching sight of the girl. Barricade looked up to see her but was met with a smack in the face. Ron winced but took a sip of his drink, completely relaxed as if he were enjoying a foot ball game. Jessica chuckled and walked up to Mikeala and Judy, a bright smile on her face.

"Hi guys! Or, er, girls." She giggled at her mistake. "What's up? Mikeala looked her over, playing with the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing.

"That looks really nice on you." She smiled fondly, putting her hands on her hips. "I think I did a pretty damn good job."

"Yes, you did!" Judy proclaimed, walking around Jessica in a tight circle before grabbing her wrist. "Come on! We need to go out and get you some clothes!" Jessica groaned painfully as she was tugged toward the driveway, which looked surprisingly empty with Bee and Barricade's absence.

"But I hate shopping for clothes!" She complained half-heartedly, trying to tug herself away from Judy. The woman just tugged harder, pulling her over to a moss green convertible.

"Ron, we'll be back soon!" She called to her husband as Mikeala climbed into the back seat carefully. Ron just waved his wife off, eyes glued to the medic and Barricade.

"Ratchet, do you really need to be that harsh?" He asked as the medic knocked Barricade in the head with a wrench.

"Of course he does." Ratchet huffed, jabbing the end of the wrench in the former 'Con's face threateningly. "One more movement out of you and I'm disabling your basic motor mechanisms." Jessica giggled and waved at him from the front seat of the car before the engine rumbled to life.

"Be good, 'Cade! I'll be back soon!" And with that, the three girls backed out of the drive way and headed into the city, laughing and talking about girl-y things like they weren't leaving Sam and Ron with a yard full of giant robots.

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><p><strong>I personally liked this chapter. =D And yes, I know this is my third update in one day, and I'll probably update one more time before going to bed, but I have a good reason for updating so quickly. Well, two good reasons. For one, I'm on a roll. For two, I'm going to the State Fair tomorrow. My dad wants to leave early so he can get himself a pair of shorts that don't have a ton of holes in 'em and aren't old as dirt, so I'll be leaving the house at like...9 in the morning? Something like that? Anyway, I'll be exhausted as all hell when I get home, so I probably won't update tomorrow at all. Anyway, review! And until next time, later gators!<strong>


	13. Girl Time

**I'm so sorry it took this long to update, you guys! D: I went to the state fair yesterday and was pretty much gone all day. When I got back home, I was exhausted. I had a ton of fun but I got burned, I hurt from my toenails to halfway up my thigh, and I'm exhausted. Even though I got PLENTY of sleep last night. I did get this really cool cup though; it's a coconut that was carved and I guess painted or burned to look like a monkey. :3 And it doubles as a change jar! It's adorable. ^.^ If you wanna add me on Facebook, pm me and lemme know! I'll link ya. ;D**

**And without further ado, here is the next chapter!**

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><p>When the girls returned, nothing seemed to have changed in the back yard. Ron was still sitting in the lawn chair watching the mechs interact in front of him, Sam was talking to Bee about something, and Ratchet was still working on Barricade, only this time Optimus was holding him down with one of his large hands. Jessica raised an eyebrow at this; was he really going to give the medic that much trouble? She tentatively stepped forward, not even bothering to stay on the path. Ron obviously didn't care if anyone stepped on the grass or the pebbles, as his yard was torn up again and he was completely relaxed. Maybe he just hadn't noticed...?<p>

"Is...it really necessary to have to hold him down like that?" She asked Optimus, looking up at him in concern. He jumped at the sound of her voice, obviously having been oblivious to her approach, but nodded. Ratchet just snorted like she was asking a childishly obvious question and Barricade grumbled to himself in Cybertronian. Jessica just snickered and leaned against his leg, licking her ice cream cone. "So...he's gonna be alright, right?"

"Of course he is." Ratchet grumbled, tweaking something that made Barricade flinch. "There were a couple of punctured energon lines that I'm working on, but that's about the only serious thing wrong with him. Other than his Decepticon status." Barricade made to sit up and tell Ratchet just what he thought about that when he was met by three reactions that had his processor going in circles trying to figure out what to respond to first; Optimus pushed him back down onto the ground, Ratchet hit him in the head again, and Jessica smacked his leg hard enough for him to actually feel it and turn her hand red. The three just looked at each other, startled, then shook their heads and continued on with what they were doing.

"I hate this." Barricade grumbled. "Scalpel would have been done already in half the time it's taking you, old mech." Ratchet growled.

"Yes, well, he didn't do too good of a job. I'm surprised anyone has the nerve to call him a doctor." He gestured angrily to something Jessica couldn't see. "Have you seen the welding work he's done? Or the lazy path work on your energon lines? I'm surprised any of you stinking 'Cons are still able to function with these so called 'repairs'!" Jessica snickered and took another lick of her ice cream cone, looking up at Barricade with amusement written all over face. "Wait..." Ratchet moved his hand and something made a small click noise. "There! Finished. Finally!" Ratchet exclaimed, sitting up and wiping his forehead. Barricade didn't hesitate to move once Optimus removed his hand.

"Finally." He grumbled, stretching his arms out as far as they could go. He looked awkwardly at Ratchet then, who was checking over one of his tools. "Er...thanks." He said forcefully. Ratchet just nodded, not even looking up from his work. Optimus cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention, including Sam and Bumblebee's.

"Now that we have finished work on Barricade, Ratchet and I are going to return to William Lennox's residence with Ironhide." He turned to Barricade as Ratchet headed for the drive way to transform into his alt mode. "Sam told me about your confrontation with Bumblebee last night. I do not want to hear that you are fighting with those you are allied with." Barricade ground his dental plates and sat up, staring the much taller mech down.

"I am not an Autobot." He spat the term like it was something disgusting. "I would not have confronted him had he kept to himself." It was Optimus' turn to look irritated.

"Bumblebee was doing what he felt was best and protecting Ron Witwicky. You may be a former Decepticon, but you must try your very best not to harm humans if you wish to remain allied with us." He held up his hand when Barricade tried to protest. "I am not saying you are an Autobot, but by accepting my offer you are allied with us." Barricade said nothing, but stared at the ground dejectedly. Optimus must have sensed his discomfort, for he simply bid Jessica, Bumblebee and the Witwicky's farewell before following behind Ratchet. As the rumbling of engines died away and Ron began to move his things inside, Jessica approached Barricade's side.

"'Cade.." He looked at her, but the discomfort in his face was still evident. "Do you regret siding with the Autobots?" He looked at her long and hard for a moment, considering her question. When he finally responded, Ron was already inside helping Judy with dinner, Sam was heading into the house and Bumblebee was already sitting in the driveway with enough space in front of him for Barricade to park when he was ready.

"...No. I do not regret it." He said finally. "As I told you before, I grow tired of the war." She let out a sigh and patted his larger arm, a smile on her face.

"Well, I just didn't want you to be doing something you don't want to do for my sake." He lowered himself so he was face to face with her, her body illuminated by the glow of his red optics and the fading sunlight as the sun began to set.

"I am perfectly capable of protecting you on my own. I did not side with the Autoscum for your sake."

"I didn't say you did." She replied, holding her hands up defensively. "I just..want you to be happy." He vented, the air blowing her hair all around her wildly. He said nothing, but carefully pressed his larger forehead against hers. She shivered at the touch of the warm metal. It felt nice...almost tingly.

"I am happy." He said quietly, shuttering his optics shut. She reached her hands up and put one hand on either side of his head, giving him a sort of hug before pressing her lips gingerly against the detailed part of his face. She let out a squeak and jumped back when she felt electricity shoot into her lips. Barricade opened his optics and looked down at her, seemingly just as shocked as she was. Literally.

"Did you do that?" She glared accusingly at him. He shook his head, blinking at her.

"No." She scrunched her features up in confusion, putting her hands on her hips.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Letting out a huff of air, she waved him off and began to head for the house.

"Alright, then. I'm off to take a shower and put my clothes away and stuff." Barricade silently watched her go, sighing to himself before transforming and backing into the Witwicky's driveway.

Before Jessica could get through the kitchen she was assaulted by a curious Mikeala, who pulled her aside into a small storage closet and locked the door.

"Alright, spill." The dark haired girl demanded once she made sure no one would be able to disturb them. "What's going on between you and Barricade?" Jessica blinked at her, tugging at the ends of her brown locks nervously.

"I'm not sure what you mean..." Mikeala scoffed and put her hands on her hips.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about! And don't play stupid because I just seen you two out there!" She pointed in the direction of the back yard with a manicured finger nail. "Now, tell me what the hell is going on between you two!" Jessica tugged her hair harder and chewed her lip, blue eyes staring at the floor as her cheeks flushed.

"I don't know." She mumbled finally, chewing her lip until it bled. "I just...I really don't." Mikeala's facial expressions softened and she dropped her hands from her hips.

"Do you like him?" Jessica looked up at her, shocked but still blushing furiously.

"I-I d-d-don't..I mean...I just..." Mikeala laughed lightly at her and pulled her into a hug.

"It's alright. You don't really have to answer me." She gave the older girl a quick squeeze before pulling back and looking her in the eyes. "But you two are totally cute together." She finished with a wink, not even bothering to wait for a response before turning around to unlock the door.

"M-Mikeala!" Jessica stuttered, rushing after her. Mikeala turned around and looked at her."P-please..don't tell anyone. I'm not sure anyone, Autobot or human alike would react well to anything going on between me and an ex-'Con." Mikeala just smiled sweetly and held out her hand for Jessica to shake.

"Promise. Now let's get something to eat!" Jessica giggled and shook her hand, sealing the promise, and turned to start making her plate. "Oh, I'm staying the night. I'm not allowed in Sam's room after his parents go to bed, so I'll be crashing with you. I hope that's okay?" Mikeala asked timidly, shooting her a shy look. Jessica just nodded, smiling.

"Sure! I wouldn't mind. I never really was social in school so it'd be nice to finally be able to have a girl's night!" Mikeala high fived her and, once they had their plates made, dragged her to the table. "So, now that you interrogated me about Barricade, it's time for me to harass you about Sam." It was Mikeala's turn to blush and look down at her plate, picking at her food.

"Well...I never really noticed him in school. Apparently we've been going to the same school for years, and he never once caught my attention until he picked me up one night." When Jessica raised an eyebrow, she sat down her fork and let out a sigh. "See, I was always into the jocks. The boys with the big muscles and crappy attitudes. I don't know what it was...What?" She asked as Jessica started snickering around her broccoli.

"You like guys with crappy attitudes. I kind of have a thing for a former Decepticon." Mikeala gave a small gasp and sat back in her chair.

"Oh so you admit that you like him!" Jessica stopped giggling and nearly choked on her food as she tried to swallow.

"Erm...Uh...I uh...Um..." Mikeala laughed at her at reached across the table to squeeze her hand.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. It's just between us girls." Jessica nodded, still trying to get over the shock of being caught. "So." Mikeala sat back again and crossed her arms expectantly. "What is it about him that you like?" Jessica shook her head, smiling.

"I'm not saying until you finish spilling about Sam."

"Spilling what about me?" Said boy asked obliviously, walking into the room. He held up his hands defensively when both girls shot him a look that said he was obviously intruding on a conversation he wasn't meant to hear. "Hey, I just came down to get a soda. No harm done." Mikeala and Jessica shared a pointed look with each other.

"Let's take dinner upstairs."

"Agreed." As if on cue, the girls gathered their plates and proceeded to march up the stairs simultaneously, leaving a confused Sam behind.

"What did I do?" He asked himself, casting a look at the two cars in the drive way out the kitchen window before heading to the fridge for what he came down stairs for. All was quiet outside as the street lights were flickering on, so he figured either the two weren't speaking to each other or were asleep. Either way, he was glad he wasn't chasing them down while they beat the scrap out of each other. Again.

"Alright, so about Sam." Mikeala started as Jessica sat her plate on the bed side table temporarily and tossed a couple of her pillows on the floor for them to sit on. "I was at a party with my ex, Trent, and Sam showed up with his weird friend who was climbing a tree...anyway, Trent tried to start stuff with him, but Sam actually had a pretty good come back." She snickered into her hand and Jessica raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Oh really? Do you remember what it was?" She shook her head.

"No. You'll have to ask him."

"I told him I was writing a book about the link between brain damage and foot ball. The book was supposed to have mazes, coloring pictures, all that good stuff." Sam answered, poking his head through the door. To avoid having something thrown at him [or at least that's what Jessica was about to do, as she immediately turned this way and that looking for something] he quickly backed up and shut the door. Jessica sat her plate down and threw the door open.

"I want one of those books when you're done, Sam! Early birthday present! Include crayons!" She shouted at the closed door and then shut her own, giggling. Mikeala just gaped at her, the corners of her mouth upturned in a smile.

"Wow. Just wow." Mikeala giggled, taking a bite of the pork chop at the end of her fork. "But anyway." She mumbled over the meat as she chewed. "Trent said I could drive his car. Male ego and all that." Jessica snorted. "And he called me his 'little bunny'." Jessica snorted again.

"If 'Cade ever called me his little bunny I'd slowly and painfully pry his optics out." Mikeala nearly choked on her food at that, going into a coughing fit before swallowing her food and laughing.

"Again, wow." She caught her breath and cleared her throat. "Anyway, I walked away without thinking about getting a ride from anyone else at the party. Sam pulled up beside me in his car and offered me a ride home. I seen him the next day and well...he was being chased by Barricade." Jessica made a face.

"I knew about that. He didn't hurt Sam, did he?" Mikeala shook her head.

"No but I think he nearly scared the piss outta him. This little silver bot with blue optics almost did, though." Jessica dropped her fork.

"Frenzy?" She half-shouted. "What happened to him?" Mikeala just gaped at her, no amusement in her face.

"You knew that psycho?" Jessica nodded quickly, mouth just as agape as Mikeala's.

"He's not really all that bad. Sure he has his issues, like he stutters a lot and acts like he's on crack, but he was pretty cool." She smiled as fond memories filled her head. "You should have seen him and Barricade. They argued like brothers." Mikeala looked down at her plate, seemingly saddened by something. "What?"

"Well...thing is...I think he's dead." Jessica stared at her, the shock slowly leaving and being replaced with sadness. "I'm really sorry, girl.." Mikeala added softly, reaching out to touch her arm.

"I may not have known him for a while, but he was a good guy. Even though he was a Decepticon..." She gave a slight sniffle, but wiped her eye and looked up with a smile. "I guess you could say he's in a better place now. Away from all this war." She made a wide hand gesture and Mikeala nodded. "So, you and Sam got together after that?" Mikeala nodded with a wide smile.

"Yeah. I kind of couldn't help it after that. He's so cute, and he's really sweet when he's not spazzing out." Jessica giggled, nodding in agreement.

"His mom probably raised him well." Mikeala snorted at that, waving her off.

"If I had a mom like that, I'd be a spazz to." They looked at each other before bursting into laughter, tears rolling down their face.

"Aw man, this is great." Jessica commented as they picked up their now empty plates to bring them down stairs. "I haven't had this much fun in years." Mikeala just giggled beside her as she washed her plate, looking out the window. "Hey, you go ahead up stairs and shower and whatever. I'm gonna go say good night to Barricade." Mikeala gave her a knowing look, winked, and went upstairs, leaving the blushing girl to stumble with the back door lock in embarrassment. She cautiously stepped into the night, staring up at the myriad of stars above her head in awe. She's always loved star gazing, though it made her feel so much smaller than she felt. Before she knew it she was running into Barricade's holoform's chest, amusement evident on his face.

"You seem to do that a lot." He commented as she rubbed her nose.

"What? Star gaze? Act like a dolt? Or run into you?" He mused over her question for a moment, the smile never leaving his lips.

"All of the above." She gave him a playful shove and then leaned against his chest. He didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her and rest his head on top of hers, sighing in content. "I heard you and the dark-haired girl talking earlier." She pulled back to look up at him.

"W-when..?"

"While you were in the kitchen." He gave her a mischievous look, a dark twinkle in his eye. "So. You like a certain mech, huh?" She blushed furiously and looked down at the ground, suddenly finding the gravel and his shiny black shoes as interesting as the stars above her head were. He laughed at that, pulling her against him and rubbing her back. "Don't act so shocked. I have extraordinary hearing." He murmured against her ear. She giggled.

"Your chin hair tickles." He smirked and rubbed his chin playfully against her ear, laughing with her when she buried her face into his shoulder in an attempt to escape the offending hairs. "Stoppit!" She demanded half-heartedly. She squeaked when he gave her ear a slight nibble. "Barricaaaaadddeeee." She groaned out. He just laughed again and gave her a squeeze.

"Someone is sensitive." He commented. She scoffed against his crisp charcoal grey t-shirt and pressed her lips briefly against his neck. She gave him a look of satisfaction when he shivered.

"I'd say. And it's not me either." He snorted and pressed his forehead against her shoulder and sighed.

"I haven't been this relaxed in years..." He mumbled.

"How many years?"He just sighed heavily and put his chin atop her head again.

"More than you know." He whispered, and if his chin hadn't moved with his response she would have thought she was hearing things. She gave him a tight, sympathetic hug. The moment was interrupted by someone clearing their throat, the two automatically jumping apart guiltily.

"Don't mind me." Sam said, giving them a hard look. "I'm just getting something I left in 'Bee." Jessica just gave him a mock glare.

"Yeah, right. Nosey. I bet Mikeala put you up to it." He looked up at her, then quickly looked back down. "I knew it! I'm gonna wear her as a house slipper, I swear. I'll make you a deal, Sam." He looked up at her hesitantly.

"Am I going to like this?" Jessica shrugged, folding her arms over her chest.

"Perhaps. If you go back in the house now and let me bring you whatever it is you forgot, if you did forget something, I'll ignore Mikeala 'sneaking out' of my room and going into your room for the night and cover your asses. Deal?" Sam immediately grabbed her offered hand and shook it.

"Deal." He blurted quickly before running like the hounds of hell were on his heals. Jessica just snickered as he tripped over something in the yard and cursed out loud before slamming the door behind him and saying something about a raccoon to his mom.

"That was fast." Barricade commented, eyebrows raised.

"I know how to work it." She flexed impressively, looking smug. Barricade shook his head and placed a finger under her chin. She looked up at him right as he pressed his lips against hers, parting their lips gently with his tongue. Jessica moaned softly as her face and neck began to heat up and tingle, her arms and back joining in on the tingling sensations as his fingertips ran themselves along her skin before settling on her hips and pulling her closer to him. Before things could go any further, Bumblebee began to blare music from his radio.

"STOP! IN THE NAME OF LOVE!" Jessica gave a squeak and fell onto her butt and Barricade's holoform nearly faded from sight and the car visibly jerked.

"The fuck, Bee?" She shouted. The car just made a whirring noise suspiciously similar to a hoarse chuckle and bounced. "S'not funny." She mumbled, taking the hand Barricade offered her and stood up. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before hugging her again.

"He does have a point, as much as I dislike siding with the scout." He shot the car a glare. Jessica just chuckled at the obvious tension in the air and pulled away from him.

"Yeah well. Either way. He needs to quit being nosy." The car made a sound akin to an innocent gasp, sending her into a giggle fit again. Barricade just shook his head and gave her a light shove in the direction of the house.

"Go. It's getting late." She stepped onto her tiptoes to place a kiss on the end of his nose and ran off, not even bothering to stop moving to stare up at the stars again. This earned her a quick face-plant into the grass after bumping into a garbage can.

"Ow." Barricade just chuckled, shaking his head, and let his holoform disappear as she got to her feet and went inside.

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><p><strong>Okay, so. I know this chapter was fluffeh as all hell at the end, but I'm doing it for a reason. Enjoy the fluff while you still can! There won't be a ton of it once things start picking up, which will happen in...eh, I don't know, a chapter or two. I know the next one the 'bots are going to be heading for N.E.S.T, which will include 'Cade and Jessica, of course. Anywho, review if you love the ficme! :D **


	14. Temporary Base

**Oh man, I can't stop listening to Hoist the Colors from Pirates of the Caribbean. xD My dad hates it because, and I quote, "It sounds like you're chanting something really creepy and sinister." xD My dad has some issues. But I proved that mine are bigger when I started running around the dollar store going nuts over a Transformers Coloring Book I seen that had stickers. I couldn't get it. :( Anyway, here's the next chapter! :D **

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><p>Jessica awoke the next morning to Sam shaking her gently awake, the sun just beginning to peek in through her bedroom window. She blinked sleepily up at him before rolling over onto her stomach, mumbling at him to go away. But he was persistent; he grabbed her shoulder and shook her harder. When she wouldn't respond, he reached over to the bed side table, picked up her glass of water and poured it all over her. The next thing he knew he was running like hell down the stairs and into the back yard, screaming at the top of his lungs with a very angry Jessica trailing him closely.<p>

"You little shit! I'm gonna kill you!" She roared, hopping over the path just as Sam skittered onto the driveway. He gave a shout as he slid on the rocks, his tennis shoes obviously not providing enough traction for him to sustain his current speed, and fell onto his butt. Jessica didn't have time to stop; just as she put her heels down to slow herself down before crashing into him, her knees connected with his back and sent her tumbling over his head and onto her back a foot away from him.

"That's what you get!" He panted, struggling to stand up and preparing himself to run again if he needed to. Jessica just groaned at him and flipped him the bird, not bothering to get up.

"What the hell was that for?" She grunted from the ground. Sam blinked at her.

"What was what for?" She scoffed in exasperation and put her hand on Barricade's tire to support herself as she stood and brushed herself off.

"What the hell was so important that you had to fucking dump water on me?" If she had been facing Sam he would have seen the vicious snarl on her face and would have been scarred for life. Jessica was a sweet girl by nature and was rarely this angry or vicious, but when suddenly woken from a deep, comfortable sleep by water or other means she made Megatron look like a harmless kitten.

"What? Oh! That. Bee got a message from Optimus a half hour ago saying that he's coming by to tell us something." He began stumbling over his words when Jessica shot him a rather impatient glare; she hadn't woken up and chased him through the house and yard just to be told Optimus was swinging by for shits and giggles. "Apparently it's pretty important. They want you there, too." Jessica stopped trying to get a piece of gravel that was stuck onto her knee off and whirled on him.

"What do they want me for?" Sam shrugged and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets, which made her suddenly self-conscious. She was wearing a short pair of cotton, baby blue pajama shorts with tiny red cherries on them, a pink bow tied neatly at the top, paired with a white wife beater tank top that read "Police" across in the font used for the "COPS" show. She'd grabbed it the instant she seen it; one to mourn her short time on the police force and to also poke fun at Barricade. She was half-tempted to take a marker designed for scribbling on clothing and write "To punish and enslave.." on the back in cursive just for 'Cade. She tucked her black bra strap under the wider tank top strap and shifted her weight under Sam's gaze. "What? See something you like?" She teased. Sam began to splutter and the engine of the car behind her roared angrily. "Chill out, 'Cade. I was just kidding. No need to get so defensive all of the sudden." She gave his hood a slight pat before trailing her fingers softly across the dark metal, grinning at the shiver that the touches caused.

"What is that?" Sam asked, pointing at her hand. "What is that you're doing right there?" She looked up at him, eyebrows rising.

"Um, what do you mean?" She didn't stop her movements, much to Barricade's delight and Sam's confusion. He jabbed his finger at her hand again as the car gave a particularly hard shudder as she began to use her finger nails.

"That! What you're doing right there! What, are you getting him off or something?" She stopped immediately and retracted her hand, leaving the Mustang to sink low on it's axels in disappointment. He hated that she could melt his defenses and make him act like a love-sick teenager, but he loved it all the same.

"N-no." She said, crossing her arms over his chest. "I...I don't really know how to explain it...it was never really explained to me but..." The air crackled with energy and Barricade's holoform appeared beside her, mimicking her body language as both leaned against the vehicle.

"When she touches my hood, she is touching part of my chest, the area closest to my spark." He explained slowly, almost in a degrading fashion. "Have you ever had a femme brush their fingers on your skin like she was doing to my hood?" Sam thought for a moment before giving a slight nod. He looked more than a little uncomfortable talking to the being that had tried to kill him a few days ago.

"Yeah. My mom would do that to my arms when I was a little kid to help me fall asleep." Barricade nodded to him.

"There you go. That is what it feels like." Sam didn't look pleased with that response; he gave Jessica a wary look. She responded by glaring and him and leaning against Barricade who drew her closer to him with an arm.

"Again, I will ask you; do you see something you like?" She bit back a giggle when she heard Barricade clenching his teeth together. To ease his agitation, she put her arm around his waist and gave a squeeze before mumbling lowly "I'm just teasing him, 'Cade. Chill your circuits." He didn't relax, but he didn't tense any further either when Sam began to splutter again. Mikeala decided to join them then, somehow managing to look gorgeous with her messy hair and rumpled pajamas; she wore a banana yellow tank top with thin, lacey straps and a pair of white fluffy shorts that seemed to have been made out of towel-like material. Jessica's eyes flashed with envy when she caught a glimpse of herself in Barricade's reflection; her hair seemed to be sticking up every which way, her eyes were slightly blood shot and she had an imprint on her face from where she had fallen asleep on the television's remote control. Why couldn't she look that pretty?

"What's going on?" Mikeala mumbled sleepily as she stepped up to Sam. He put his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the temple."Why's everyone outside?"

"Optimus got a hold of Bee and told him that he was going to be here to talk about some things. They wanted Jessica here for it too, so I woke her up." Mikeala gave Jessica a small smile before hugging Sam to her.

"Oh, okay. I guess that means you should get dressed then, huh?" Jessica looked down at her clothes again and shrugged.

"Meh. My tank top is fine, I just need some kind of pants...this are a little too revealing for a meeting of a sorts." Barricade removed his arm from her as she stepped away from him. "I'll be back before you guys know it. Try not to miss me too much!" She called over her shoulder as she stepped onto the pathway, pretending the grass was lava as she hopped from stone to stone.

She was back within ten minutes, having settled on a pair of Bermuda shorts that were a dark olive green color and made of a slick material that had a cargo pocket on each side. She skipped shoes completely, but brought a pair of black flip flops with her in case she had to go some where. There was no telling what Optimus would want once he showed up. Once she had herself situated on Barricade's hood and she began finger-combing her hair, Optimus pulled into the driveway. She gave a yelp when Barricade began to edge forward with Bumblebee on his tail. She was about to complain when she realized that the big guy was going to need to get into the back yard somehow, and the two cars occupying the drive way were preventing that. So she got her balance and continued trying to tame her hair, despite the random tangles she came across.

Once he was into the back yard, Optimus transformed slowly, trying to stay behind the trees so no one would see him. She nearly giggled at how careful the tall bot was being. He was obviously a hardened soldier, but to see him basically crawling across Sam's back yard, being careful not to smoosh any of Judy's flower bushes or Ron's decorations was almost hilarious. Barricade and Bumblebee transformed after he did, taking a seat on the grass and keeping themselves well hidden with ease; they were much smaller than the leader, so it wasn't much of an issue for them.

"So, big guy, what's with the sudden meeting?" Sam asked casually, grabbing three lawn chairs and setting them up for himself and the girls to sit in. Jessica sat down gratefully, her feet starting to throb from the gravel. They weren't fully healed, and she was sure a couple of cuts had been cracked open. It was a relief to get off her feet. Optimus positioned himself carefully in front of the five and began to explain himself, keeping his voice low so no one outside would hear his baritone voice.

"I have spoken with your government officials about our need of a base. They deliberated and are willing to provide the proper funding for one to undergo construction in a week's time. For now, we have been granted temporary refuge in an abandoned building. Bumblebee will remain with Sam here at his home. However.." He shot Barricade an uneasy look, briefly wondering if he should mention this now. He wasn't sure how the mech was going to handle it..."They have requested to meet with Barricade. I have informed them of his situation, and they were...less than pleased that we have a technically neutral ex-Decepticon in our midst." He looked at Jessica then, her being his next focus. "They are also aware of you, Jessica. They were understandably uneasy about you being in his care. They want to meet with the both of you, perhaps observe you to ensure your safety." She snorted at that, folding her arms over her chest again.

"I bet they would like that. And I bet they find the most miniscule thing and try and separate us 'for my own good'. I'm not buying it." She stood to leave, when Optimus spoke again.

"Jessica. They only wish to ensure your safety." It was Barricade's turn to object, his dental plates grinding against each other.

"I am quite capable of keeping her safe." Optimus vented and looked at him wearily.

"Barricade, that is hardly their point. They do not question your ability to protect her against a Decepticon attack. They question your ability to keep her safe from yourself. You still have Decepticon nature programmed in to your processor, and they are unsure of what to make of it. They do not know you like Jessica may, and they have not witnessed your change of behavior for themselves."

"So they basically have to see it to believe it?" Jessica asked hopefully, stepping past her chair to get closer to Optimus. He nodded, much to her relief.

"In a manner of speaking." She looked up at Barricade then, a smile on her face.

"I think we can show them a thing or two. What do you say? Wanna go prove some idiots wrong?" Barricade just grumbled incoherently. "I'll take that as a yes." She shrugged, the smile still on her face. Sam stood up then, helping Mikeala to her feet.

"You guys won't need me around, will you?" Optimus shook his head.

"Not at the moment. They would like to meet you and thank you for your deeds during the battle, but that is for another time. For now, I am to take them to the temporary base and introduce them to the officials necessary." He looked almost apologetic when he faced Barricade. "You will have to come with me, Barricade. Jessica has to come as well." Barricade snorted and nodded, transforming back into his alt mode and opening the door for her. Jessica wordlessly got into the car as Optimus transformed in front of them and the two vehicles left the yard and turned onto the street.

"Um...damn." Jessica said suddenly, placing her hands on the steering wheel to make it look as if she were really driving and not Barricade.

"What?" He grumbled grumpily from the radio.

"I'm hungry." He sighed over the radio, slight static mixing with his voice. This was going to be a long ride.

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><p>They arrived at the temporary base an hour later, Jessica's stomach growling louder than before. Barricade would have loved to have stopped for her to get something just to quiet the irritating noise, but until Ratchet had the time to re-wire his internal communications to where he could communicate internally with both Autobots and Decepticons [for intel purposes, as he would still pick up basic frequencies from his former faction], he wouldn't be able to inform Optimus of what they were doing. As soon as she stepped out of the car he transformed, cracking his metal claws in a humanistic fashion.<p>

"Let's get this over with." He said with ease, as if he were a teenage boy getting ready to take an important Math test. She giggled and followed closely beside him, careful not to get too close to his feet. They entered the large warehouse-looking building, taking in the sights. Soldiers were literally scattered everywhere, walking this way and that, doing their own things. Some had paperwork and clip boards in their hands, a few carried important looking envelopes, some were talking on cell phones or walkie talkies, and others were fiddling with guns. Ratchet sat nearby working on something on his leg while Ironhide leaned against the wall looking irritated. Optimus entered the building behind Barricade, who had stopped to pick Jessica off the ground and set her on his shoulder carefully, and pointed them to one of the raised metal platforms.

"They are over there." He was pointing to a large group of older looking men, some looking no younger than their mid-30's while some looked closed to retiring age. They were chatting amongst themselves like old friends, though their topics of conversation couldn't have been no less important than nuclear warheads or something more serious. Optimus walked with Barricade to the platform, gaining the men's attention."Gentlemen, this is Barricade and Jessica." Jessica gave a shy wave from his shoulder, which was surprisingly level with the walkway, and Barricade just nodded silently. One of the men stepped forward, his suit looking more expensive than anything Jessica had ever set her eyes on.

"So, you're the ex Decepticon?" Barricade nodded again, his optics seeming to narrow as the older man's eyes turned to Jessica. "And you're the girl he's protecting?" She nodded, her sheepish smile fading when she noticed how he looked at her outfit with distaste. She immediately felt extremely self-conscious and under-dressed and began to shrink back around the car door on his shoulder. Barricade noticed his discomfort and let out a low growl to the man, who jumped back, wide-eyed and pale-faced. He grinned at his discomfort when Optimus cleared his throat.

"She has been under his protection since...well." He turned to Jessica, hoping she would explain. Despite her hiding spot from behind the car door, she still spoke clearly and fearlessly.

"I was 9 when I found him. He promised me that night he'd protect me."

"And did he?" A new voice asked, this one sounding a little older and had less strength to it. She nodded, forgetting they couldn't see her temporarily, then cleared her throat sheepishly.

"Erm. Yeah. He did. My bad, I forgot that you couldn't see me."

"Why don't you come out from there, then?" The voice asked. She poked the side of her face from behind the door shyly before fully appearing again.

"Sorry. I just feel...extremely underdressed." The man that had spoken chuckled, looking as old as he sounded. He wore a dark military uniform that was beautifully decorated with several medals and pins. She again felt under-dressed, but this time under-accomplished. She'd barely done anything while on the police force worth mentioning or getting a medal for, save getting shot in the side and surviving.

"Not to worry, my dear. I've discussed matters with people in their pajamas." She grinned at that, feeling a little better about herself. The first man that had addressed them cleared his throat and stepped forward, silently commanding to be the center of attention again.

"I hope Optimus made it clear when we said we wish to observe you." He directed his statement at Barricade, who just gave another nod. He didn't like this human. The man looked at Jessica again. "You are to remain here on the base. The both of you." He looked at Barricade again. "We will observe you for 72 hours. During this observation, you will constantly be watched by someone, whether you're aware of it or not." Jessica gave a shiver; would they watch her while she was in the bathroom? She hoped against hope that they wouldn't. "We will be judging several different behaviors of the both of you; how well you interact with other humans and bots, how well you behave alone, how you handle different military battle situations, and most importantly, how well you interact with each other." He gave them a pointed look before continuing. "Optimus informed me that the two of you are...close. Perhaps too close. I alone will be the judge of that." Jessica gulped as her stomach tightened. Great. Just brilliant.

"Is that all?" Barricade ground out irritably. "I do believe we must return to her temporary location to retrieve her things for this stay." The other man looked up at her curiously.

"Temporary location?" She began to fiddle with the tire on his arm, spinning it idly.

"Yeah." She mumbled, just loud enough for them to hear over the noise. "Starscream came after us and blew up my house. I'm staying with Sam Witwicky and his parents until I can get on my feet or whatever." She spun the tire again before Barricade mumbled "stop it" in her ear. She huffed and poked it before settling on leaning against the door, careful not to fall off as she leaned backwards.

"Well, we just might have to fix that." He smiled and she reacted by smiling brightly back, perking up a little. She liked this guy, she decided. The other man, the one she didn't like, bid them a curt farewell and gestured for the other men to follow them, which they did like a pack of sheep following a herding dog on a farm, chatting amongst themselves once again. Some gave the two a parting glance, while others spoke in low voices. Jessica frowned as Barricade began to head for the entrance/exit of the building. This was going to be a long 72 hours.

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><p><strong>Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you all enjoy reading it! Remember to review and lemme know what you think! Thank you so much to all that have been reading and reviewing since the beginning! :D<strong>


	15. Steamy chapter is steamy

**So I regret to inform you guys that this might be the last bit of Barricade x Jessica fluff for a while. To help satisfy those who love fluff, there's a steamy piece included. ;D It's not intense enough to raise the rating, but it's still a steamy piece. I'm not saying more, for fear of giving it away. ;D Now then, on with it!**

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><p>The drive back to the Witwicky residence was all too short for Barricade and Jessica. Though Jessica was more than willing to get the observation over with, both found themselves not wanting to be constantly watched. Sipping her milkshake quietly as they pulled up to a stop light just outside the subdivision Sam lived in, she stared out the window as people roamed the streets in a care free manner, laughing with friends, talking on cell phones or texting, or wrapped in their own little worlds. None of them had to deal with the idea of giant alien robots, at least not yet. None of them drove one to work or was developing feelings for one. None of them had to sit for 72 hours at a military base with seemingly nothing to do while people watched and recorded their every sneeze and burp and how they reacted to someone looking at them cross-eyed. And for that, Jessica envied them. Barricade's holoform stared blankly ahead, taking her place in the driver's seat so she could finish the small meal she had picked up from a near by Wendy's on the way back to the house. He seemed to hesitate, acting as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself. Jessica watched him carefully from the corner of her eye for a minute, and, as the car passing in front of them reflected the sudden change from green to yellow on the stop light, she let out a sigh and broke the silence.<p>

"Barricade, what's on your mind?" He jumped at her voice, slowly easing forward as their light turned green. "Is this whole observation thing really bugging you that much? I don't think Optimus would really complain if you backed out and went back to the Decepticons.."

"I'm not backing out." He said suddenly, startling her with his voice. He hadn't spoken to her since they had left the base, lost in his own thoughts, so hearing it all of the sudden was a bit startling. "I just...have...never mind." He shook his head and focused on the road, seemingly putting all his concentration into doing 35 mph in a 45 mph zone.

"Barricade, you're gonna get pulled over." She groaned, running her fingers through her hair. "You of all bots would know that. And just tell me. You're my guardian for fuck's sake." He chuckled at her use of profanity. "That's right, laugh it up, tin head. While you're over there laughing at my expense I'm starting to get pretty pissed off that you're keeping something from me. Almost as if you think I'm too weak to handle it." If there was one thing she hated in this world, it was being told or it being suggested that she couldn't handle something. Her guardian, best friend, and crush was a robot from outer space that was five times her size and had killed so many of his own kind and who knows how many of her species, she had seen her father's bloody pulp of a corpse and her mother's dead body as a kid, watched her father beat her mother, and had even under gone molestation from her own father and yet he thought she couldn't handle a single thought. Oh how that got under her skin.

"Why must you insist on knowing what is wrong?" He asked, sounding just as irritated as she was. Good. Now maybe he would tell her what was wrong. She glared at him as if he should have already known the answer.

"Because I'm sick of people telling me I can't handle jack shit, alright?" She shouted as they pulled into Sam's driveway, but neither Barricade or Jessica made a move to exit the vehicle. He just stared at her, surprised by her outburst while she glared daggers at him, her body beginning to quiver with years of pent up anger.

"What do you mean? I never-"

"I know you didn't say it, but you didn't have to." She spat coldly. "Your silence suggested it. After you left, I was stuck in foster home after foster home, stuck with parents who didn't give a shit about me, sometimes even beat me." Tears were running down her face now, but she completely ignored them. "For years I was told what I could and couldn't do, and I'm not talking about silly shit like going out with friends or whatever like most girls freak out over. I was told I would never grow up to be someone decent. I'd never go to college. I couldn't handle the pressure of the assignments. I couldn't handle the soccer team because I was apparently lazy. Yeah right, I cleaned that entire fucking house on a day to day basis while that pathetic excuse of a man sat on his ass drinking beer! Here I was 10 years old doing more than he ever dreamed of doing!" She threw her hands in the air in exasperation, ignoring the fact that her fingertips hit the fabricated ceiling. "All my life I've been told I can't handle anything major, and I've proved them wrong." She murmured quietly, her voice now trembling with tears. "Why can't you tell me what's bothering you? If I could do everything I was told I couldn't do, then I can handle this one little thing."

Barricade stared at her for a moment, completely taken aback by her sudden outburst. He wasn't used to humans being emotional, and he definitely wasn't used to her being this way, either. When she was younger she would try to at least wipe the tears from her eyes and would refuse to admit she'd been crying. She'd laugh and smile, even if it sounded or looked forced, which had him commending her for her mental strength. Now here she was, crying openly in front of him like it was an every day thing. He wasn't used to that at all.

He shook himself to recover from the initial shock of her outburst, then leaned forward and kissed her. At first it was just a soft brush of the lips, like he was afraid of her reaction, but then he put more force into it, nearly bruising her lips with the pressure he put on them. She didn't mind one bit. What she did mind, however, was his breaking off the kiss.

"Go. Get your things." Was all he said, and she didn't have to be told twice. It took her 15 minutes to borrow a duffel bag from Sam and explain to him and his parents where she was going and for how long, gather her essentials as well as some entertainment, and make it back out to the car after patting Bumblebee on the hood and telling him goodbye. She laughed when he played her a song from a musical that she couldn't quite name and gave his hood a hug before throwing her duffel bag into the back seat and getting in beside Barricade.

"Let's go." She said, pumping a fist into the air half-enthusiastically. Barricade gave her an smile before slowly backing out of the driveway and heading for the main road again.

"Do you understand what I was trying to tell you?" He asked her as they plowed through the stop light they had started the conversation at, looking over at her. She looked at him as she took the final sip of her milkshake that was now just melted cream and flavoring, eyebrows raised.

"Hm?" She thought long and hard for a moment before blushing slightly. "I'm guessing you're trying to tell me just how much you care?" He smiled slightly at her, then turned his attention back to the road.

"In a manner of speaking." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Be specific."

"Would you like me to explain further?" She just shrugged as he began to slow down, then knit her eyebrows together in confusion when he put on his turning signal when they were no where near a stop light or a turn.

"I guess...?" She asked, heart beginning to pump faster when they pulled into a parking garage for a near by business. When they reached the very top, which was mostly vacant, she turned to look at him and demand an explanation, but was met by his lips as the engine switched itself off. This time she kissed him back, reaching her hands up to mess up his perfectly gelled hair. Barricade lowered the front seats and pulled her onto his lap. Once she was comfortably situated he moved from her lips to her neck, trailing butterfly kisses along her light skin and occasionally nipping the sensitive areas. She let out a moan as he began to move to her shoulder blades, then her collar bone and shivered when he reached his hands up to lower her bra and tank top straps down to the middle of her upper arms and kiss the now exposed flesh.

Face flushed, she kept her fingers entangled with his hair and let out another moan when he kissed just above one of her breasts and reached up to grab the other. He let out a moan of his own when she ground her hips against his in revenge for his teasing kisses and grabbed her hips to keep them against his own. To her dismay he leaned upwards, placed a kiss on her throat and brought her head down with one of his free hand to whisper in her ear as he massaged the sensitive mound of flesh.

"Do you understand now?" He placed a kiss on her ear lobe and licked the sensitive skin behind it, causing her to gasp. "I love you." He murmured against her skin, pressing a tender kiss to the junction between her neck and shoulder. "I never intended to fall for you. To me you were just another human." He kissed up her neck and moved both of his hands to her lower back as he reclined against his seat. "But for some unfathomable reason, I did. I don't regret it, either." Cheeks turning the color of a ripe beet, Jessica lowered her head onto his chest and moved one hand to trail a patter on his collar bone and left the other in his hair.

"I...I do believe I feel the same way, 'Cade." She whispered, letting out a sigh of content. She'd gotten worked up, sure, but she was just fine with what they were currently doing. He moved his arms to fully envelope her into a hug and kissed her still exposed shoulder, a smile on his lips.

"Good."

"I'm curious." She said, propping herself up on her elbows. When she was sure she had his attention, she continued. "You were a Decepticon for years. You killed several mechs and...femmes?..yeah, femmes, on your planet. Not once did you give them a second thought. You probably enjoyed it." She shivered at that, imagining thousands of agonized screams and shrieks of different tones and frequencies reaching her ear drums accompanied by Barricade's own voice twisted in sadistic, almost psychotic laughter as he took more and more lives. "You come to earth intending to keep it up, to maybe even do that to us humans. Why the change? Why the sudden burst of affection?"

Barricade just stared at her. Where had that come from..? He sat up, eyes clouding over as he thought long and hard about her question. He personally had never thought about it before; he'd just let the emotions that filled his spark and processor take over almost completely, blurring his thoughts and influencing his decisions. He'd never met a female of any species that had done that to him. He'd never been in the position he was now, laying beneath a femme who was staring at him intently, as if she was reading his every thought like a crystal clear data pad, its contents in plain English.

"I...don't really know." He began, sitting up slightly. Jessica sat up with him, clinging to his shirt as his seat was brought back to its erect position and moved back so she wouldn't be against the steering wheel. "When we first met, I believed you to be nothing but a pest. I had every intention of leaving my landing site the next day after I recharged and my internal repairs fixed what small amount of damage had been done during my journey. When I awoke to find you there, I wanted to squish you, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. You were a curious little sparkling. Brave, too." He chuckled when he remembered her walking cautiously up to him and poking him, squeaking when she was met with a jolt of electricity. She giggled when she remembered the same memory. "I guess...I seen something in you. Something that had my processors nearly shutting down and sending me into stasis lock from too much thought. You were innocent; I hadn't seen anyone smile like you did, laugh or behave in such a manner in several earth years. The war had been raging long before I had been sparked." He let out a sigh, suddenly feeling ancient and tired. "I began to think about your planet, observe it in a way I'd never thought to before. I began to stop thinking about our war, put my mission aside." He smiled softly, closing his eyes in rememberance.

"What do you think of our planet?" Jessica asked, fiddling with a button on his shirt. He opened his ruby red eyes and smiled at her.

"It's beautiful. Cybertron was beautiful in its own right, but it lacked the foliage Earth has, the organic animals that roam the landscape, the birds that sing every morning and ever night. The weather is unique; I've never seen clouds rain balls of ice from the sky before, or wind behave in such a violent matter." She shivered at his reference to tornadoes; she hated those things. "Most of all, your species has its...moments." He chose his words carefully. "For instance, human sparklings have such an innocence about them; they know nothing of pain and hard ship. They smile and laugh, they play and socialize without a care. Despite hardships many humans go through, they smile and enjoy their incredibly short lives. You're a strong race, though only up here." He tapped the side of her head and she laughed, grabbing his hand with her own.

"So I guess this means you actually like us humans?" He snorted at her and curled his fingers in between hers, gaze moving to their clasped hands.

"Slag no. I just said you have your moments." She giggled and kissed his forehead. Barricade smirked and leaned forward to bite the top of her breast, the smirk growing into a devilish smile when she moaned and nearly collapsed on him.

"'Cade.." She gasped out as his hands moved to remove her shirt. Still grinning, he pulled the tank top off her head and began to work at her bra while she unclasped his buttons. He gave a small gasp when she grew impatient and kissed what skin was exposed.

"S-slag.." It was her turn to smirk, then full out laugh when she ground her hips against his harshly. She groaned when he bucked his up against hers. "Don't dish out what you can't take as you humans say." He said impishly as he finally removed her bra and began to work her exposed breasts thoroughly with his hands. They almost missed the sound of her phone over her moans as he moved from using his hands on the flesh to leaving marks with his teeth and lips teasing her with his tongue. Almost.

"Fuck." She growled, pausing her work on his shirt. "It can wait." Barricade couldn't have agreed more, shoving his tongue in her mouth as his hands began to work on her pants. But as soon as the cheesy ring tone began to blare again he knew he'd have to stop so she could answer.

"Answer it." He groaned as she leaned forward, jostling his pelvic area unintentionally as she grabbed the phone from the outer pocket of the bag. She flipped it open without looking at the caller i.d., squeaking when Barricade bit the side of her bare breast and began to suck at the skin.

"H-hello?"

"Where are you?" Optimus' voice startled her to say the least. Barricade immediately stopped his work on marking her as his and listened to the phone call intently.

"At a restaurant. I got hungry; I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch so. Barricade couldn't take my stomach growling much longer. Or my bitching and whining." Barricade rolled his eyes at her, not that she noticed. She was studiously trying to ignore him and keep her voice steady. He may have known nothing about human intercourse but he knew how to get her worked up. Then again it was pretty easy; he was the first guy who'd removed her shirt other than a doctor when she had her first pap smear.

"Please hurry back to the base. Your government officials are getting impatient."

"Why? Does our observation start as soon as we get back or something?"

"Please just hurry." Was all the leader said before cutting off their connection. She lowered the phone, blinking at it. How had he even gotten her number.

"Slag." Barricade cursed, gently sitting them up and gathering her tank top and bra. "We have to go. I don't want this observation to be any more annoying than it has to be." She flopped down onto the now raised passenger seat and put her top clothing back on, watching in amusement as Barricade flickered his holoform. Nothing had changed about him, minus the fact that his hair was now fixed and his buttons re-done. She snickered and shook her head, finger combing her hair again.

"You make that look so easy." He just snorted at her as he started up the car again and began to leave the parking garage. "Can I bother you with stopping at Starbucks? I want one last good meal before I'm reduced to eating military food." She stuck her tongue out in disgust as Barricade laughed at her misfortune.

"I don't envy you." Was all he said as he pulled out onto the street. He was then met with a flip flop against the side of his holoforms' face, which just made him laugh harder.

"Laugh it up, tin can." She said, sticking her tongue out at him. As they pulled up to a stop light, she sighed, staring intently at the small Starbucks they were about to head for. "It'll probably be the last time you get to laugh for three days."

Barricade frowned at that. The observation wouldn't be that annoying...would it?

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><p><strong>...Alright, so that did get steamy enough for me to become paranoid about the rating and raise it. o.o And steamier than I intended. I hope ya'll enjoyed it, because it'll probably be the last scene like that for a while. Things will...be getting pretty serious here soon, though there will be bits of humor during the three days of observation. Well, review! :D <strong>


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